As many as one in two patients stop taking statins, reduce the dose or take them irregularly because they believe the cholesterol-lowering drugs cause muscle pain and other side effects.
In a new study, researchers found that the true prevalence of statin intolerance worldwide is between 6 to 10 percent.
They found that statin intolerance is over-estimated and over-diagnosed, with the result that patients are at greater risk of heart and blood vessel problems, including death, caused by high cholesterol levels.
There is strong, unambiguous evidence that statin treatment makes a significant difference in preventing cardiovascular disease and dying from it. Statins are among the most commonly prescribed drugs.
In the study, the team did a meta-analysis of 176 studies with 4,143,517 patients worldwide.
The aim was to identify the overall prevalence of statin intolerance and the prevalence according to different diagnostic criteria.
They found that the overall prevalence of statin intolerance was 9.1 percent.
Prevalence was even less when assessed according to diagnostic criteria from the National Lipid Association, the ILEP and the European Atherosclerosis Society: 7 percent, 6.7 percent and 5.9 percent respectively.
These results show that in most cases statin intolerance is over-estimated and over-diagnosed, and they mean that around 93 percent of patients on statin therapy can be treated effectively, with very good tolerability and without any safety issues.
The team says that doctors should evaluate patients’ symptoms very carefully, firstly to see whether symptoms are indeed caused by statins, and secondly, to evaluate whether it might be patients’ perceptions that statins are harmful, rather than the drug itself.
The researchers also found that people who were older, female, of Black or Asian race, obese, or suffering from diabetes, under-active thyroid glands, or chronic liver or kidney failure were more likely to be statin intolerant.
In addition, drugs to control irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), calcium channel blockers (often prescribed for chest pain and high blood pressure), alcohol use and higher statin doses were associated with a higher risk of statin intolerance.
The increased risk of statin intolerance ranged from 22 percent (high alcohol consumption) to 48 percent (being female) in these groups.
If you care about statins, please read studies that statin drugs can do double duty on heart disease and cancer, and statin use may lower cancer risk in people with heart failure.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about fish oil supplements linked to this dangerous heart problem, and results showing scientists find a new way to fight against heart failure.
The study is published in the European Heart Journal and was conducted by Professor Maciej Banach et al.
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