A new study has found that two very common medicines may have very different effects on muscle health in people who smoke or used to smoke. The research suggests that statins may help slow down the loss of chest muscles, while aspirin may actually make muscle loss worse.
The study was published in January 2025 in the journal Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation. It focuses on a group of people who are already at higher risk of losing muscle over time.
Many current and former smokers take medicines like statins and aspirin. Statins are usually given to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Aspirin is often used to prevent heart attacks and strokes because it helps stop blood clots from forming. These medicines are widely used and are generally considered helpful for heart health.
However, people who smoke or have smoked in the past often face another serious problem: muscle loss.
This is especially true for those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as COPD. COPD is a long-term lung condition that includes diseases like chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It can make it hard to breathe and often gets worse over time.
COPD is a major health issue around the world. It affects more than 30 million people in the United States alone and is one of the leading causes of death globally. In people with COPD, muscle loss is not just a minor issue. It can make daily activities harder, reduce strength, and even make breathing more difficult because the body becomes weaker overall.
To better understand how common medicines might affect muscle health, researchers studied 4,191 people who took part in the COPDGene study. This is a large research project that looks at the causes and effects of COPD. The participants in this study were either current smokers or former smokers.
The researchers used chest CT scans to measure the size and quality of the pectoralis muscles, which are the chest muscles. They compared scans taken at two different times to see how the muscles changed over time. This allowed them to track muscle loss in a detailed and accurate way.
The study was led by Dr. Toru Shirahata, a lung specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
He explained that many smokers and former smokers have other health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes. Because of this, they are often prescribed statins and aspirin. This made it important to understand how these medicines might affect muscle health.
The results showed a clear difference between the two medicines. People who were taking statins tended to lose less chest muscle over time. This suggests that statins may have a protective effect on muscle, helping to slow down the natural loss that can happen with age and disease.
In contrast, people who were taking aspirin showed more muscle loss. This finding was unexpected, as aspirin is usually seen as a helpful and safe medicine for many people. The results suggest that aspirin may have effects on the body that are not yet fully understood, especially in people who already have a higher risk of muscle loss.
It is important to understand that this study does not prove that aspirin directly causes muscle loss or that statins directly prevent it. The research shows a connection, but more studies are needed to confirm the results and explain why these effects may happen.
Still, the findings are important because they may help doctors make better treatment decisions. For people who are at risk of muscle loss, such as those with COPD, doctors may need to carefully consider the benefits and risks of different medicines.
This study also shows how complex the human body is. A medicine that helps one part of the body may have different effects on another part. This is why ongoing research is so important, even for medicines that have been used for many years.
In the future, more research may help doctors develop more personalized treatments. This means choosing medicines based not only on a person’s heart health but also on their muscle health and overall condition.
For now, this study offers a new way of thinking about common medicines. It reminds us that even well-known treatments can have unexpected effects, especially in people with complex health conditions.
If you care about muscle, please read studies about factors that can cause muscle weakness in older people, and scientists find a way to reverse high blood sugar and muscle loss.
For more health information, please see recent studies about an easy, cheap way to maintain muscles, and results showing these vegetables essential for your muscle strength.
The research findings can be found in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation.
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