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Related: About this forumStatins Are Linked with Fatigue
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/06/11/statins-are-linked-with-fatigue/
Statins Are Linked with Fatigue
By Katherine Harmon | June 11, 2012 | 13
Cholesterol-lowering statins have been credited with preventing countless heart attacks among at-risk adults. More than 20 million U.S. adults now take statins daily, making them some of the top-selling drugs of all time. Recent research, however, has indicated that they might sometimes contribute to cognitive problems, such as confusion and memory loss. And new findings suggest that they might also be to blame for additional fatigue.
The new study followed 1,016 healthy adults, who were randomly assigned to take 20 milligrams of Zocor (simvastatin), 40 milligrams of Pravachol (pravastatin)both relatively low dosesor a placebo every evening before bed for six months. At the end of the study period, they were asked to rate their energy levels and how they felt after exercising. Those who were taking the statins were more likely to report lower overall energy and more fatigue with exertion than those who had been randomized to the placebo. The findings were reported online June 11 in Archives of Internal Medicine.
Occurrence of this problem was not rareeven at these doses, Beatrice Golomb, of the Department of Medicine at University of California, San Diego, and co-author of the study, said in a prepared statement. Subjects taking the Zocor ended up with the lowest cholesterol but were more likely to report decreased energy. The effect was more common in women, she noted, with 40 percent of women reporting either this lower energy or more fatigue with exertion while taking the daily Zocor dose.
Energy is central to quality of life, said Golomb, who also worked on earlier research linking statins to cognitive impairments. Exertional fatigue not only predicts actual participation in exercise, but lower energy and greater exertional fatigue may signal triggering of mechanisms by which statins may adversely affect cell health.
<snip>
Statins Are Linked with Fatigue
By Katherine Harmon | June 11, 2012 | 13
Cholesterol-lowering statins have been credited with preventing countless heart attacks among at-risk adults. More than 20 million U.S. adults now take statins daily, making them some of the top-selling drugs of all time. Recent research, however, has indicated that they might sometimes contribute to cognitive problems, such as confusion and memory loss. And new findings suggest that they might also be to blame for additional fatigue.
The new study followed 1,016 healthy adults, who were randomly assigned to take 20 milligrams of Zocor (simvastatin), 40 milligrams of Pravachol (pravastatin)both relatively low dosesor a placebo every evening before bed for six months. At the end of the study period, they were asked to rate their energy levels and how they felt after exercising. Those who were taking the statins were more likely to report lower overall energy and more fatigue with exertion than those who had been randomized to the placebo. The findings were reported online June 11 in Archives of Internal Medicine.
Occurrence of this problem was not rareeven at these doses, Beatrice Golomb, of the Department of Medicine at University of California, San Diego, and co-author of the study, said in a prepared statement. Subjects taking the Zocor ended up with the lowest cholesterol but were more likely to report decreased energy. The effect was more common in women, she noted, with 40 percent of women reporting either this lower energy or more fatigue with exertion while taking the daily Zocor dose.
Energy is central to quality of life, said Golomb, who also worked on earlier research linking statins to cognitive impairments. Exertional fatigue not only predicts actual participation in exercise, but lower energy and greater exertional fatigue may signal triggering of mechanisms by which statins may adversely affect cell health.
<snip>
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Statins Are Linked with Fatigue (Original Post)
bananas
Jun 2012
OP
DURHAM D
(32,619 posts)1. Speaking from personal experience - Statins are poison.
Don't take them just because your doctor prescribes them. Doctors have no idea how bad they can be for you. They are willfully ignorant.
trotsky
(49,533 posts)2. That's a rather ugly set of blanket statements.
It's disappointing how much uninformed doctor-bashing happens here.
DURHAM D
(32,619 posts)3. I don't actually blame the doctors for their ignorance.
I asked two GPs and three specialists if my problems could be connected to statins. They all said no. Turns out it is the drug companies that withhold the data.