Scientists say that this drug is getting totally hammered, and it's pretty much nonsense.
Statins have long been prescribed to people suffering from heart disease and high cholesterol, but many have been discouraged from taking them due to side effects and other risks — but a new study claims that’s all bunk. Statins have been lauded for helping reduce the mortality of the leading cuase of death among Americans, heart disease, but many have cast doubt on not only how effective they are but also whether they’re worth the risk.
In a review led by researchers from the University of Oxford and published in the Lancet, scientists have found claims about bad side effects from statins are totally overblown, and that the drugs’ benefits may actually be greater than people realize.
A condition known as statin intolerance is one of the known potential side effect of the drugs, although it is rare, which is when people taking them develop muscle weakness due to severe degeneration of muscle tissue, as well as damage to vital organs. One popular statin was yanked from the market in 2001 after multiple deaths due to muscle disorders were linked to the drug, casting a bad light on statins.
But scientists think that a big reason for such side effects may be that people prescribed a statin may start exercising, and the muscle pain was from soreness. In reality, those taking statins didn’t report significantly higher rates of muscle problems than those on a placebo.
In fact, researchers found that statins cause the risk of heart events to drop by 25 percent for each unit drop in cholesterol levels in each year the patients take the drugs compared to those who don’t.
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