Less than 10% of patients intolerant to statins, according to studies | Statins

According to the world’s largest study on this issue, the proportion of patients who are intolerant to statins is much lower than previous estimates suggest.

According to the British Heart FoundationIn the United Kingdom, an estimated 7-8 million adults are taking statins, reducing their risk of heart attack and stroke. However, concerns about side effects mean that some people reduce their doses or stop taking them altogether.

Previous studies estimated that the prevalence of statin intolerance could be as high as 50%, but a new study using data from more than 4 million people could be less than 10%. Is suggested to be high.

Professor Machey Banaha of Lodz Medical College and Zielona Gora University in Poland led the study, and it has long been known that most cases of statin intolerance result from the expectation of side effects in patients. Said. Of the information they receive from the internet, neighbors or other sources.

New studies support this view, but said Banaha also sheds light on the characteristics of people who may be at risk of statin intolerance.

“Our analysis gives doctors a strong message that there are several risk factors and conditions that can increase the risk of statin intolerance and that everyone should always take into account,” he said. He added that it could help rule out other obvious reasons for statin intolerance and help doctors think about alternative treatments and dose use.

Write in the European Heart JournalBanach et al., Reported a method of analyzing data from 4,143,517 patients worldwide in 176 studies, including approximately 200,000 participants in 112 randomized controlled trials.

The team’s analysis included several different definitions of statin intolerance. This includes symptoms that are bad enough for the patient to stop taking the drug, the inability to tolerate the drug at the dose required for cardiovascular risk, and elevated levels of certain biomolecular or muscular symptoms. When stopped, it goes back and forth.

The results showed a prevalence of 9.1% when considering the scope of the definition, and as low as 5.9% in some individual definitions.

The team said statin intolerance is associated with many factors, including older people, females, blacks or Asians, drinking, diabetes, obesity, or taking certain medications such as calcium channel blockers.

This study shows increasing evidence that statins have few side effects. Research published last year is clear Statins are generally not behind muscle aches and pains that persuade some people to abandon the drug, but in other studies patients have Experience the same also Fewer side effects From taking statins rather than placebopills.

Riyaz Patel, Professor of Cardiology, University College London, and Barts Cardiologist Consultant health The NHS Trust, who was not involved in the study, said one limitation was that the prevalence of side effects differed between different types of studies. In fact, the prevalence of statin intolerance was almost 5% when considering only randomized controlled trials, compared to 17% in observational studies.

Professor Liam Smeet of the London School of Economics and Tropical Medicine said that the high level of observational studies is due to biases and factors such as the “Dolcebo” effect, which is expected to have side effects when taking certain medications. He said it could be the cause. However, the authors said that randomized controlled trials may underestimate prevalence by excluding certain patients.

Nonetheless, Patel, coupled with previous studies, suggested findings. “Based on what we know about statin side effects so far, the results are likely to be widespread and fast to overestimate statin side effects or stop statins without due consideration. It shows that it shouldn’t be too much, “he said.

Smeeth suggested that the results should provide peace of mind. “It’s a reality that statins cause symptomatic side effects, which can be very bad, but they are relatively rare,” he says, and the drug is well tolerated by the majority of people. I added that.

“Looking at how effective and cheap it is [statins] Reducing the risk of a heart attack by more than a third is a big benefit. “