Statin drug linked increasing side effects deaths
"Medical reports compiled on patients’ illnesses shows the cholesterol lowering drugs have been associated with a huge dossier of reported side-effects including irreversible muscle breakdown, muscle pain, blood disorders, diabetes, skin disorders, nervous system disorders and stomach problems over the last twenty years."
"Statin drug linked increasing side effects deaths" source
"Between eight and ten million Britons take statins, the most widely prescribed drugs in the UK. However figures from the medicines’ watchdog have led to calls for an urgent review of the safety of statins with experts claiming the harm may outweigh any potential benefit in low risk patients.
The figures, compiled by this paper cast further doubt on NICE’s decision to lower the prescribing threshold so that the drugs are given to low risk patients and include up to 17 million patients, almost 40 percent of the adult population.
The data, compiled from reports recorded by the government drug watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, reveals there have been tens of thousands of reported side-effects linked to statins since the drugs came into widespread use over the last two decades.
Many surround issues of muscle degeneration and muscle weakness, sometimes leading to death due to kidney failure.
The news follows a study which last week showed that women who took statins became more aggressive, and that the reverse was true in men.
Professor Klim McPherson, an leading expert in public health at Oxford University, who himself suffered severe muscle pains while he was prescribed statins for four years said he was worried about the side effects we had uncovered: “I am concerned about these data. Some of the side effects are serious. There should be thorough review attributable to side effects of statins which there has not been.”
Professor McPherson, whose debilitating symptoms stopped after he ceased taking statins a year ago added: “This is evidence that the harm may outweigh the benefits of these drugs for many patients.”
Dr Malcolm Kendrick, who has studied the effects of statins said: “These reports are just the tip of the iceberg as most doctors do not report side effects. The data uncovered is very alarming and shows the risks of these drugs have been downplayed. For many patients the benefits of statins may not be worth the harms.”
In total there have been 18,928 separate reports filed to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) where side-effects were connected to statins detailing 21,440 alleged reactions."
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