Red Yeast Rice & Polyneuropathy

Red yeast rice and prescription statin medications, used to lower cholesterol levels, have something in common. Both contain ingredients that inhibit HMG-CoA reductase, which decreases cholesterol production. Growing Monascus purpureus yeast on rice produces red yeast rice, a staple food also used as a medication in Asian countries. Statins can have serious side effects, including polyneuropathy, or nerve damage in more than one area. Because red yeast rice has similar properties as statins, it may also have the same side effects. Talk to your doctor if you take red yeast rice and develop signs of nerve damage.

Red Yeast Rice and Lovastatin

Red yeast rice contains monacolin K, a substance also known as lovastatin, sold in prescription form as Mevachor. While statin drugs require a prescription, red yeast rice is sold as an over-the-counter supplement. Red yeast rice supplements contain varying and uncontrolled amounts of lovastatin; because of its potential side effects, the United States Food and Drug Administration has banned the sale of these supplements in the United States.

Causes

Polyneuropathy causes nerve damage in peripheral nerves found in the arms, fingers, legs and feet. Many drugs cause peripheral neuropathy, including a number of chemotherapy agents, antibiotics and cardiovascular drugs such as statins. A Canadian animal study published in the May 2009 issue of the "American Journal of Pathology" found that simvastatin prevented remyelination in nerve cells. Demyelination causes neuropathy. Diabetes is one of the most common causes of peripheral neuropathy.

Symptoms

Symptoms of polyneuropathy from statin drugs include pins-and-needles sensations in the extremities, numbness, loss of feeling, inability to feel vibration, burning pain and muscle weakness. The nerves and feet on both sides of the body are the most common type of polyneuropathy sites, Dr. Walter F. Coulson of the University of California reported in the April 2011 issue of "The Journal of Family Practice." Polyneuropathy can also cause muscle weakness; around 10 percent of people taking statin drugs experience some degree of myalgia, according to Coulson.

Risks

Statins increase the risk of developing polyneuropathy by as much as 14 times, according to a Danish study published in the May 2002 issue of "Neurology." Red yeast rice and red yeast supplements probably will have the same effect if given in the same doses. Red yeast rice supplements sold in the United States no longer contain lovastatin, but drugs sold over the Internet may. If you take red yeast rice as a supplement or as part of your diet and develop numbness, tingling, loss of feeling or other symptoms in your extremities, stop taking the supplement and see your doctor.

References

• Science Daily: Statin Drugs May Increase Risk of Peripheral Neuropathy
• Neurology: Statins and Risk of Polyneuropathy: A Case Study
• The Merck Manual Home Health Book: Polyneuropathy
• MedlinePlus: Red Yeast
• The Journal of Family Practice: Statin Neuropathy?
• American Journal of Pathology: Statin Therapy Inhibits Remyelination in the Central Nervous System
• MayoClinic.com: Red Yeast Rice (Monascus Purpureus)