Side effects of statins are likely to be much more common than official statistics suggest !

From Dr. John Briffa

I saw a patient recently who suffered from mental symptoms (poor memory and inability to find his words) quite soon after commencing statins, and his symptoms resolved quite soon after discontinuing the drugs. He might be imagining his issues or suffering from a ‘nocebo’ response (the opposite of a placebo response), but he and I reckon the most likely thing is that his brain has suffered from the side effects of statins.

When side effects appear to come on quickly after taking a drug, and resolve quite quickly on stopping it, it’s generally easy to work out what’s likely to be going on. However, the side effects of drugs can take some time to manifest, and this is certainly true for statins. A recent piece of research makes the point that some statin side effects can take even years to become apparent. The authors of this study make the point that for a given number of people taking statins, the total number of people suffering from side effects creeps gradually upwards.

I was interested to read about a recent review in which the frequency of adverse effects from statins was assessed over time [1]. The authors of this study make the point that when side effects occur, these can often come on quite soon after therapy is commenced (just as in the man referred to above). However, they also point out that side effects can be delayed for several years too. The relatively short duration of studies leads the authors to conclude that it is: “…impossible to determine with certainty the frequency of long-term side effects with these drugs.”

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