Rosuvastatin is a medicine used by millions of people to lower high cholesterol and protect their hearts.
It belongs to a group of drugs called statins, which help reduce bad cholesterol levels in the blood.
High cholesterol can lead to serious heart problems like heart attacks and strokes, so medicines like rosuvastatin are often prescribed to lower that risk.
Rosuvastatin, also sold under the brand name Crestor, is known to be a powerful statin. It works well to lower cholesterol and is often chosen for people who need strong treatment. But a new study from Johns Hopkins University has found that this medicine might also come with some serious risks—especially for your kidneys.
When rosuvastatin was first approved in the United States, there were already small signs that it might affect the kidneys. Some people had blood or protein in their urine, which are warning signs that the kidneys are not working properly.
However, until now, there hasn’t been a lot of research to clearly understand how risky it really is.
To find out more, the researchers looked at health records from over 950,000 people between 2011 and 2019. They focused on two large groups. One group of over 150,000 people had started taking rosuvastatin.
The second group, with almost 800,000 people, had started taking another statin called atorvastatin. Both drugs are used to treat high cholesterol.
The researchers watched both groups for three years to see how often kidney problems appeared. They found that people taking rosuvastatin were more likely to have blood in their urine (2.9%) and protein in their urine (1.0%) compared to those taking atorvastatin.
People on rosuvastatin had an 8% higher chance of getting blood in their urine, a 17% higher chance of having too much protein in their urine, and a 15% higher chance of suffering from serious kidney damage that might require dialysis or even a kidney transplant.
The danger was even higher for people who were taking stronger doses of rosuvastatin. This is especially troubling for people who already had poor kidney function.
In fact, nearly half of the people with serious kidney disease in the study were given higher doses than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends. This means they were exposed to even more risk.
The study’s lead author, Dr. Jung-im Shin, and her team say that while rosuvastatin and atorvastatin both help protect the heart, rosuvastatin seems to carry a greater risk to the kidneys. This makes it important for doctors and patients to think carefully about which medicine to choose, especially if someone already has kidney problems.
The study sends a clear message: rosuvastatin is not the best choice for everyone. It may work well for lowering cholesterol, but it might not be safe for people with kidney issues. If you are taking rosuvastatin, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor and ask if it’s still the right medicine for you.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about a surprising link between alcohol drinking and heart health and both blood pressure numbers can predict heart disease risk.
For more about heart health, please read studies about a new cause of heart rhythm disorders and eating just one cup of nitrate-rich vegetables daily can reduce heart disease risk.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
