A systematic review of statin-induced muscle problems in clinical trials
Three articles on PainSci cite Ganga 2014: 1. The Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain 2. 35 Surprising Causes of Pain 3. Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements for Pain & Healing
PainSci notes on Ganga 2014:
In this review of several statin trials, only slightly more patients had pain on statins than without (placebo): just 12.7%, compared to 12.4%. You could conclude from this data that there actually is no such thing as statin mylagia! But it probably is a real phenomenon, which is highly plausible based on the existence of rarer but very severe side effects on muscle (see Mammen or Statin Therapy). We don’t have very good data about it, it’s mostly not severe, and it’s hard to distinguish from the “background noise” of many other common causes of musculoskeletal pain.
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
Statin therapy is associated with muscle problems in approximately 10% to 25% of patients treated in clinical practice, but muscle problems have rarely been reported in controlled clinical trials. We performed a systematic search and review of statin clinical trials to examine how these studies evaluated muscle problems and to determine why there are apparent differences in muscle problems between clinical trials and practice. We initially identified 1,012 reports related to clinical trials of statin therapy, 42 of which qualified for analysis. Fifteen, 4, and 22 trials reported creatine kinase values only>10, 5, and 3 times the upper limits of normal, respectively, in both statin- and placebo-treated participants. Four trials reported average creatine kinase values, which increased with statin treatment in 3 instances. Twenty-six trials reported muscle problems, with an average incidence in statin- and placebo-treated participants of 13%, but only one trial specifically queried about muscle problems. Three trials used a run-in period to eliminate participants with statin intolerance and noncompliance. The percentage of muscle problems tended to be higher with statin treatment (12.7%) than with placebo group (12.4%, P = .06). This small difference probably reflects a high background rate of nonspecific muscle problems in both groups that could not be distinguished from statin-associated myalgia because most clinical trials did not use a standard definition for statin myalgia.
related content
- “Statin Therapy: Risks vs Benefit: An Expert Interview With Eliot A. Brinton, MD,” Linda Brookes, Medscape CME.
- “Effects of Statins on Skeletal Muscle: A Perspective for Physical Therapists,” Stasi et al, Physical Therapy, 2010.
- “Statin-Associated Autoimmune Myopathy,” Mammen, New England Journal of Medicine, 2016.
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