Statin Risks: Muscle Weakness, Nerve Damage, Cancer

From: Sharon Hope (shope_at_anet.net)
Date: 02/03/05 

Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 21:08:15 -0800

Statin Risks
News 14 Carolina - Raleigh,NC,USA
... So she searched the Internet for someone who did and found Beatrice
Golomb, MD, Ph.D. Statins work by blocking a chemical in the liver that
makes cholesterol. ...

http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=63214&SecID=2

www.news14.com

Statin Risks
2/2/2005 7:09 PM
By: Ivanhoe Newswire
Researchers estimate as many as 150 million people worldwide take
medications known as statins.
While these drugs effectively lower cholesterol, some say they are
over-prescribed and can pose serious side effects. Here's more on the risks
of statins.

Nothing means more to Jane Brunzie than spending time with her 9-year-old
granddaughter, Rachel. And that feeling is mutual.

"She always has special things going," Rachel said, "So I always ask her,
'Is there anything special going on?'"

But those special times for these two almost came to an end.

Jane said, "My daughter told me she didn't think she could safely leave my
granddaughter with me anymore, because she would come home from work, and I
didn't know where she was."

Kristen Lemme, Jane's daughter, said,: "That's when everything went ding,
ding, ding in my head. I had to sit her down and say, 'I know we've had some
patches here, but I can't have this anymore.'" Thinking her mother had
Alzheimer's, Kristen scouted out care facilities.

But Jane wondered if it could be a side effect of the drug Lipitor
(atorvastatin). She kept talking to her doctor about it, but he didn't think
it was important. So she searched the Internet for someone who did and found
Beatrice Golomb, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Golomb, an internist at University of California, San Diego, says many
of the patients in her study who took statins had memory problems. "The most
common reports we hear are from people initially having difficulty
remembering names, including names of loved ones, and difficulty remembering
where they were going or why."

Statins work by blocking a chemical in the liver that makes cholesterol.
They're effective at doing that, but not without risks. Dr. Golomb says
patients on statins are at an increased risk for developing muscle weakness,
nerve damage, and even cancer.

She's worried doctors aren't warning patients about these risks.

"Physicians have heard so many of the wonderful things about statins and so
little about the potential downsides that the physicians are persuaded that
the statins can't possibly be related," Dr. Golomb explaine. "Then the
individuals stay on the drug, and the problem progresses and becomes very
severe and debilitating."

So, who should take statins? According to Dr. Golomb, research shows only
white, middle-aged men who have or are at risk for heart disease. "There's
not really evidence that the benefits exceed the harms for women, for
elderly, or for men who aren't at high risk."

But most doctors still recommend statins because those side effects can
usually be reversed by lowering the dose.

Jane stopped taking her statin. Within days, she was back to her normal
self. Her cholesterol is still high -- about 300 -- but she said it's a
tradeoff that's worth it.

"At my age, I would rather risk having a heart attack and die with a mind
that was functioning. That's my choice."

A risky choice for Jane, but one her whole family supports.

Dr. Golomb's statin study is the largest of its kind to look at the side
effects of the drugs. In January 2005, an FDA panel opposed a proposition to
sell statins over-the-counter, citing numerous side effects.

Members of the panel also said the drugs may pose serious birth defects when
taken during the first trimester of pregnancy.

For more information, contact:

John McGraw
Department of Medicine
University of California, San Diego
(858) 558-4950

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Why??
    ... > Dr. Golomb: ... > "We have people who have lost thinking ability so rapidly that within ... > independent clinical trial to find out what harm statins may be doing. ... As with most other areas of life, the risks have to be weighed against the ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Outcomes in 45 patients with statin-associated myopathy
    ... >>> my spouse...6 years on statins has NO adverse effects...his lipids are ... >> Completely non life threatening symptoms, ... we're talking about knowing what the risks ... > the BENEFITS of HRT did wonders for me.... ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Statin Risks: Muscle Weakness, Nerve Damage, Cancer
    ... > Statin Risks ... > medications known as statins. ... > Jane said, "My daughter told me she didn't think she could safely ... > But Jane wondered if it could be a side effect of the drug Lipitor ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Outcomes in 45 patients with statin-associated myopathy
    ... >> my spouse...6 years on statins has NO adverse effects...his lipids are ... > the risks *are,*, and that there is no reason to assert that the thus far ... the BENEFITS of HRT did wonders for me.... ... > weight gain, etc., heart attack, dementia) because they and their docs ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Cholesterol Advice Needed
    ... > health risks I have since read about re statins. ... statin health risks are hyped by anti statin activists. ... Several more months with high LDL are unlikely to change a lot. ... try lifestyle changes (but not everything commonly adviced is ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
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