Your doctor may prescribe a statin (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor) to lower your cholesterol. Too much cholesterol in your blood could cause a heart attack or stroke. Cholesterol can be reduced with diet and exercise, but if that isn't enough, a statin could lessen your body's cholesterol production, according to MedlinePlus. Besides their good effects on heart disease, statins may also have undesired side effects on heart patients.
Lower LDL Levels
Statins help lower LDL (low-density lipoprotein ) cholesterol. This "bad" cholesterol is produced by your liver. It collects in plaque formations in your arteries to make blockages that could cause a heart attack or stroke. LDL cholesterol production is reduced by statins, which inhibit their formation according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Raise HDL Levels
Besides reducing bad cholesterol, statins work to increase HDL (high-density lipoprotein). Also known as "good" cholesterol, HDL helps remove LDL from arteries, reducing blockages, lowering blood pressure and restoring normal blood flow. According to MedlinePlus, the combination of lessened bad cholesterol and increased good cholesterol can greatly reduce arterial heart disease.
Muscle Pain
Heart patients who take statins most often report muscle pain as a side effect. You may feel muscle soreness, weakness or tiredness, and it may be mild or severe, according to the Mayo Clinic. Activities that were easy before, such as climbing stairs, may become difficult after taking a statin. In the most serious form, muscle damage could threaten your life if you develop rhabdomyolysis, which can damage your liver or cause kidney failure. This rare reaction only happens about once in every 15 million cases.
Cognitive Loss, Sexual Dysfunction
Brain function loss and sexual dysfunction are two side effects found in heart patients who use statins for treatment of their cholesterol levels. The "American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs" reports that the adverse effects of statins tend to become greater the longer the drugs are used. This higher risk of side effects may hit a balance point of risk-benefit ratio that should be considered by those 70 to 75 years of age.
Organ Function
Using statins could have side effects on various organ functions, such as liver, thyroid and pancreatic function. You could damage your liver, for instance, because a statin may cause your liver to make more of certain enzymes. If this becomes a problem, the Mayo Clinic advises changing to a different statin that may not affect your liver. Liver function testing should be done before and during statin use, because a statin that damages your liver, if not stopped, could cause permanent damage.
Gastrointestinal Problems
Taking statins could cause gastrointestinal problems in heart patients. You may experience stomach pain, diarrhea or become nauseated when taking a statin. According to the Mayo Clinic, gastrointestinal problems with statins are rare and tend to occur most often with those who have other gastrointestinal problems. Taking a statin with a meal in the evening may be the best way to minimize gastrointestinal problems from the drugs.
References
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Controlling Cholesterol With Statins
- Mayo Clinic: Statin Side Effects
- "American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs"; Statin Adverse Effects: A Review of the Literature and Evidence for a Mitochondrial Mechanism; Beatrice A. Golomb and Marcella A. Evans; Nov. 1, 2008
- MedlinePlus: Statins
