What are the risks of taking Statin drugs to lower your cholesterol?
The most commonly used drugs to lower cholesterol today are called statin drugs. Approximately, 10 million Americans are taking these drugs and most of them have no side-effects at all. All of these drugs, however, have the potential of liver damage and muscle damage. However, only one of the drugs, namely Baycol, has been actually taken off the market for these problems. In almost all instances the benefits in reducing heart attacks and strokes far outweigh the risks, which themselves are quite low. Many patients do complain of leg pain, back pain and generalized muscle aching. Most often these are not symptoms of severe muscle damage but are important symptoms not to ignore. In all patients with muscle aching I recommend checking muscle enzymes, and often stop the drug altogether. This indeed is the most common reason that people stop taking statin drugs and approximately 10% of people have some form of muscle discomfort. Nevertheless, this problem rarely results in severe muscle dam
