Written By: Debjani Arora | Updated : August 28, 2018 9:09 PM IST
High cholesterol, especially LDL or bad cholesterol can damage the blood vessels and make an existing heart problem worse. This is why doctors prescribe cholesterol-lowering drugs or statins, the most common drugs used to lower cholesterol. They help in multiple ways, apart from lowering the cholesterol levels they also safeguard the heart and lower risk of a heart failure. While there are various natural ways to lower cholesterol, medications become necessary when these tricks fail to do their work. However, cholesterol-lowering drugs have their own side-effects. Here Dr Samir Kubba, Principal Consultant, Max Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Max Hospital, Vaishali, tells us about a few of them.
Muscle pain and damage
This is one of the most common complaints of people who take statins. Regular intake of statins can lead to pain as a soreness, tiredness or weakness in muscles. The pain can be mild or severe. However, discuss with your doctor about the same before popping painkillers. Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis. The risk of very serious side effects is extremely low and calculated in a few cases per million of patients taking statins.
Liver damage
Though the rare, regular use of statin could signal liver inflammation by increasing enzyme production. If the increase is only mild, statins could still be a fine choice to lower cholesterol. But if the increase is severe, one might need to try a different statin. Although liver problems are rare, we may order a liver enzyme test before or shortly after you begin to take a statin.
Increased blood sugar or type 2 diabetes
There is a possibility that your blood sugar levels increase once you start talking statin, which may lead to developing type 2 diabetes. The risk is very small but important for your knowledge. Statins prevent heart attacks in patients with diabetes, so the relevance of the mild increase in sugar values with statins observed in some patients is unclear. The benefit of taking statins likely outweighs the small risk to have the blood sugar level go up.
Neurological side effects
Rarely some people develop memory loss or confusion while taking statins. These side effects usually reverse once you stop taking the medication. There is limited evidence to prove a cause-effect. However, there are studies that say statins may help with brain function in patients with dementia. However, this is still being studied. Never stop taking statin medication before talking to your doctor.
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