Are there side effects to taking statins?

Although there are benefits to taking a statin, there may be some adverse side effects. In this video, Merle Myerson, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention with Bassett Medical Center, explains these risks.

Transcript

00:00

Statins are also known to have other side effects. In some patients, especially those with underlying liver

00:06

problems, it can elevate the liver function test, meaning it can bother the liver.

00:12

There have been some reports that it increases the risk for diabetes. However, many patients that we give these medications to

00:20

are at risk for becoming diabetic. It's a little hard to tell whether they would have become diabetic anyway.

00:27

And if they are diabetic or pre-diabetic, they really do stand to benefit from the statin use.

00:34

In very rare instances, a patient can have something with their kidneys where their kidneys essentially shut down.

00:43

And this is because it has a very serious-- and once again, very rare-- effect on the muscles where you have

00:52

this release in your blood of something called Creatinine Kinase. We call it CK. And that can really do a lot of damage to the kidneys.

01:00

Now this is extremely rare. And sometimes we can know patients who might be at risk for it.

01:07

So while statins have huge amount of benefits, most of us who are specialists in treating people

01:15

with lipid disorders or cholesterol disorders really feel the benefits far outweigh the risks.