diabetes<\/a> diagnosis; however, the majority of such cases affect people who were already close to the threshold.<\/p>\nThis means they already had high blood sugar levels before starting the treatment.<\/p>\n
3. Abnormal liver enzymes<\/p>\n
Statins work by blocking an enzyme in the liver that produces cholesterol. In a small proportion of cases, the treatment was found to cause an increase in abnormal levels of liver enzymes called transaminases, which help the liver process proteins.<\/p>\n
The Oxford study found the excess risk was linked to the intensity of statin therapy, particularly affecting patients on the highest dose (80mg per day of atorvastatin).<\/p>\n
However, the researchers found no increased risk of serious liver problems such as jaundice or liver failure.<\/p>\n
4. Liver function test abnormalities<\/p>\n
The analysis also found a small increased risk of spikes in liver function tests, including other enzymes such as alkaline phosphatase.<\/p>\n
This relationship was also dose-dependent, meaning the higher the dose, the more likely your liver is to react.<\/p>\n
Again, this did not appear to increase the risk of serious liver problems. The researchers wrote in The Lancet: \u201cClarifying the clinical implications of any changes in liver function tests while taking statin therapy would be of value.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. Changes to urinary composition*<\/p>\n
Urinary analysis found that statins may cause a small increase in the risk of changes in urinary composition. This essentially meant there was a marginal increase in the levels of proteins found in some patients\u2019 urine.<\/p>\n
Such changes can sometimes indicate kidney damage; however, the study showed no evidence of kidney injury. The changes may instead be due to a temporary change in how the kidney processes small proteins, caused by the statins.<\/p>\n
6. Oedema*<\/p>\n
Statins were linked to a slightly increased risk of oedema, a build-up of fluid in the body, typically causing swelling in the ankles, feet and legs.<\/p>\n
Oedema can also be caused by standing or sitting in the same position for too long, eating too much salty food, being overweight or being pregnant.<\/p>\n
*Researchers said the increased risks for urinary composition changes and oedema were only seen in trials comparing patients on statins to those taking a placebo, not when comparing more intensive and less intensive statin therapy. They therefore noted only the \u201cpossibility of a causal effect of statin therapy\u201d, rather than a definite link, and described the findings as \u201cof uncertain clinical importance\u201d.<\/p>\n
What about other symptoms?<\/p>\n
The crucial study found no evidence that statins cause dozens of other undesirable effects currently listed on packaging information and in online advice.<\/p>\n
They called for action to ensure patients and doctors are aware of the findings and can make more informed treatment decisions.<\/p>\n
Professor Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer at the British Heart Foundation, said: \u201cNobody is disputing the fact that patients get adverse effects throughout their life. The big question is, \u2018Are they related to the drug they are taking?\u2019 The answer here is, in large part, \u2018No\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of those other things that trouble patients\u2026have nothing to do with the treatment with statins. That is a very powerful message both for the public and for patients, and hopefully will lead to perhaps the six, seven, eight million people who should be on statins reappraising their thoughts about them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Side effect myths may have put people off taking the vital medication (Image: Getty) For decades, millions of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[274],"tags":[4094,156693,18,135,19,17,462,156692,7886,75635],"class_list":["post-326324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-cardiovascular-disease","tag-cardiovascular-disease-prevention","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-medication","tag-oxford-university-study","tag-side-effects","tag-statins"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116033645613262537","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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