After six months of taking statins, over 20% of people develop muscle pain

This study was published in Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia 2014 Jul;103(1):33-40

 

Study title and authors:

Evaluation of sexual dimorphism in the efficacy and safety of simvastatin/atorvastatin therapy in a southern brazilian cohort.

Smiderle L, Lima LO, Hutz MH, Sand CR, Van der Sand LC, Ferreira ME, Pires RC, Almeida S, Fiegenbaum M.

Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25120083

This study evaluated the effects of simvastatin/atorvastatin on men and women. The six month study included 495 patients, aged 25-82 years, (331 women and 164 men), who received simvastatin/atorvastatin.

When high levels of creatine phosphokinase are detected in the blood, it is considered to be an abnormal result. High levels of the enzyme may occur due to the following conditions:

• heart attack
• pericarditis after a heart attack
• polymyositis or dermamyositis
• heart muscle inflammation
• myopathy (a disease of the muscles)
• rhabdomyolysis (a breakdown of muscle tissues)
• muscular dystrophies
• convulsions
• stroke
• brain injury
• delirium tremens
• hypothyroidism (a decrease in the activity of the thyroid gland) or hyperthyroidism (an increase in activity of the thyroid gland)
• death of lung tissue

After six months the study found:
(a) 20.3% of the patients developed muscle pain.
(b) 11.1% of the patients had increased creatine phosphokinase levels and/or abnormal liver function.