A new study from Johns Hopkins University has found that a popular cholesterol-lowering drug called rosuvastatin might increase the risk of kidney problems, especially when taken at higher doses. This discovery could lead to changes in the way doctors prescribe this medication.
Millions of people take medicines called statins to help lower their cholesterol and protect against heart disease. Rosuvastatin is one of the most common statins because it works well and is easy for many people to get. However, researchers have found that it may not be as safe for the kidneys as once believed.
When rosuvastatin was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there were already some warning signs. Some people who took the drug developed blood in their urine, a condition known as hematuria, or had protein show up in their urine, called proteinuria.
Both of these can be early signs of kidney damage. Even though these concerns were noticed early on, there was not much follow-up research to find out how serious the risks really were for people taking the drug over many years.
To learn more, researchers studied electronic health records from 2011 to 2019. They compared rosuvastatin to another popular statin, atorvastatin. They looked at the health data of more than 150,000 people who started taking rosuvastatin and nearly 800,000 people who started taking atorvastatin. They followed these patients for three years to see what happened.
The results showed that 2.9% of the people who took rosuvastatin developed blood in their urine, and 1.0% developed protein in their urine.
When compared to atorvastatin, people taking rosuvastatin had an 8% higher risk of blood in their urine, a 17% higher risk of protein in their urine, and a 15% higher risk of severe kidney failure. The risk was even greater for people taking higher doses of rosuvastatin.
One worrying part of the study was that many people who already had serious kidney disease were still prescribed high doses of rosuvastatin—doses that the FDA says should be avoided for people with poor kidney function. In fact, the study found that 44% of patients with advanced kidney disease were given doses that could be too strong for them.
Even though these risks were found, the study also showed that both rosuvastatin and atorvastatin were equally good at protecting heart health. This raises an important question: if atorvastatin offers the same heart protection without the extra risk to the kidneys, should doctors be more careful about choosing rosuvastatin, especially at high doses?
The study, published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, suggests that both doctors and patients should think carefully about the pros and cons of using rosuvastatin. It highlights the need for more caution when giving this drug, especially to people who already have kidney problems.
This research also shows why it is important to keep studying medications even after they are approved. Some side effects only become clear after many years of real-world use. By continuing to monitor how drugs affect large groups of people over time, doctors can make better decisions to help keep patients as safe and healthy as possible.
If you care about kidney health, please read studies about how to protect your kidneys from diabetes, and drinking coffee could help reduce risk of kidney injury.
For more information about kidney health, please see recent studies about foods that may prevent recurrence of kidney stones, and eating nuts linked to lower risk of chronic kidney disease and death.
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