Statin pills rarely cause muscle pain or problems, study finds

Statin pills rarely cause muscle pain or problems, study finds People on cholesterol-lowering statins can be reassured that it is uncommon for the tablets to cause muscle pain, say the authors of a large study.

The pills can protect against heart attacks and strokes, but have had some bad press because of a very rare risk of dangerous muscle inflammation.

The British Heart Foundation says patients should not automatically stop their tablets for mild muscle aches.

The conclusions are based on data from nearly 155,000 people. BBC News

See also:

• Effect of statin therapy on muscle symptoms: an individual participant data meta-analysis of large-scale, randomised, double-blind trials (open access) The Lancet