“When you look broadly across all people currently on statins, the rate of side effects is very low,” he told Healthline.
The findings follow a February study that concluded that the risks of serious side effects from statins are low .
The risk of serious muscle issues for people who take statins is extremely low, according to a large study.
The researchers reported that they discovered that about 0.04% of the people studied had a 10-year risk of statin-related serious muscle disorders above 10%.
“Serious muscle disorders have… been perceived by patients and physicians as a major concern for statin use, despite the incidence in the population being very low,” the study authors wrote.
“When you look broadly across all people currently on statins, the rate of side effects is very low,” he told Healthline. “When you consider the value that taking a statin daily provides to prevent heart disease , it is rare that the risk from the medication side effects outweighs the benefit of taking it.”
Yu-Ming Ni , MD, a cardiologist and lipidologist at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in California, said the new research delivers an important message.
“Clinical treatment decision making can be better informed by personalized risk information about treatment outcomes, including both benefits and harms,” the authors wrote.
The authors of the new study say that “widespread and often misattributed concerns” about statin side effects have led to “low statin uptake and poor adherence in individuals eligible for treatment, consequently leading to increased [cardiovascular disease] and related deaths.”
Despite this, past research shows that less than half of the 50 million people in the United States who might benefit from statins actually take them. In addition, it’s estimated that as many as one-third of people prescribed statins never fill that prescription.
Studies dispelling concerns over statin use are noteworthy considering that statins can help lower cholesterol levels by as much as 60% , and consequently reduce the risk of heart disease.
The results of the study were published on June 25 in The Lancet Digital Health . The findings follow a February study that concluded that the risks of serious side effects from statins are low .
Researchers said less than 1% of people who took the commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering medication in a study had a 10-year risk of statin-related serious muscular disorders higher than 10%.
The risk of serious muscle issues for people who take statins is extremely low, according to a large study.
To reach their findings, researchers in the new report looked at the electronic health record data of more than 1.7 million participants in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink.
The data included males ages 50 or older and females ages 60 or older. The participants were from England and were registered with the database between 1998 and 2018.
The researchers used a model that was developed to predict the 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year risks of serious muscle disorders associated with hospitalization or death, adjusting for competing mortality risk.
The researchers reported that they discovered that about 0.04% of the people studied had a 10-year risk of statin-related serious muscle disorders above 10%.
The researchers said they hope their findings will convince patients and medical personnel that the benefits from statin use far outweigh the risks.
“Serious muscle disorders have… been perceived by patients and physicians as a major concern for statin use, despite the incidence in the population being very low,” the study authors wrote.
“This study aimed to derive and validate a prediction model for the personalized risk of serious muscle disorders in individuals eligible for statin treatment, to better inform clinical decision making on statin treatment and improve the use of statins in [cardiovascular disease] prevention,” they added.
Cheng-Han Chen, MD, an interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in California, said the new research reaffirms the benefits of statins.
“These results confirm our understanding that statins are a very safe and effective medication for treatment of heart disease,” he told Healthline.
Roger Blumenthal, MD, Chair of the American Heart Association (AHA) 2026 Dyslipidemia Guideline writing committee, agreed.
“The incidence of muscle side effects with statin therapy is extremely low. The benefits of lowering LDL-cholesterol are clear,” he told Healthline.
