Statins not to blame for muscle aches, says study into common symptom

Suspected side effect of cholesterol-lowering drug has stopped millions from taking the pills long term

STATINS are unlikely to be causing the muscle pain that people report while taking the drugs, the first randomised controlled trial has found.

Millions of Britons are prescribed statins to lower their cholesterol, yet around one third do not take the pills long term, with many complaining of aches. To find out if the drugs were causing the problem, a team from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine invited 200 people who had complained of muscle pain to take both the drugs and a placebo at different two-month periods over a year.

None of the participants knew what they were taking and they were asked to monitor their symptoms. The results showed no difference in muscle symptom scores between the statin and placebo periods, and a slight increase in symptoms for people taking a placebo.

All those who were enrolled in the study had either stopped taking statins or were considering stopping medication before the trial, but after seeing the results, two thirds continued with their treatment. Prof Liam Smeeth, professor of clinical epidemiology at the research centre, said: “I’m certainly not a statinpusher in any sense, I think people need to make informed decisions.

“But what we’ve clearly shown is that even among this group who had been especially selected because they had problems taking statins, in almost all cases their pains and aches were no worse than on placebo.

“These are real aches and pains but they are not being caused by statins and that really matters when people are weighing up the benefits and risks.”

Statins, which cost pennies each, work by reducing the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the blood.

The harmful cholesterol can lead to a build-up of fatty plaque in the arteries and cause blockages or ruptures, leading to heart disease and stroke.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that statins be offered to people whose 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke, is greater than 10 per cent.

But over the past decade, several observational studies have suggested a link to muscle pains, causing patients to be concerned about the side effects.

The latest study is known as a “number of one” trial, because each participant is effectively being tested against themselves in a trial of one person.

Dr Emily Herrett, the study’s first author from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “Number of one trials aren’t available for patients in the NHS, but they could be a useful, scientific approach to help patients and doctors figure out whether a drug is the cause of a patient’s symptoms.”