Play all audios:
Statins, which cost a few pence, are the most commonly prescribed drug in Britain with six million people taking them. Cardiovascular disease causes around 180,000 deaths a year in England
and Wales. Professor Sever’s study, published today in The Lancet, looked at data on 26 side effects from a trial of 10,000 patients and found cases of muscle pain and weakness were
unlikely to be directly caused by statins. The research concluded that they might instead be due to the so-called “nocebo effect”, a phenomenon where the fear of side effects can make
patients more likely to report them. Professor Sever of the National Heart And Lung Institute at Imperial College, London, said: “Just as the placebo effect can be very strong, so too can
the nocebo effect. “This is not a case of people making up symptoms, or that the symptoms are all in their heads. Patients can experience very real pain as a result of the nocebo effect and
the expectation that drugs will cause harm.” The first phase of the trial included 10,180 patients aged between 40 and 79 who were randomly given 10mg of atorvastatin, one of a number of
forms of the drug, or a placebo and followed for three years. They did not know which they were taking. The rate of muscle-related symptoms reported was similar whether patients received a
statin or placebo. However during a later phase when some 6,500 patients took statins knowingly, side effect reports were 41 per cent more common. Dr Amitava Banerjee, Honorary Consultant
Cardiologist at University College, London, said: “The take-home message is that muscle pain is very common but far less commonly caused by statins. “A lot of the pain people report while
on statins is influenced by their expectation of pain. They may be attributing pain from other causes to their statins.” The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is
being urged to remove warnings from statin packaging following the study. It said: “The benefits of statins are well established and are considered to outweigh the risk of side effects.
“Any new significant information will be carefully reviewed and action taken if required, including updates to product labelling.” Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, of the British Heart
Foundation, said: “Statins are an important and proven treatment for preventing coronary heart disease but their use has been clouded by the perception that they cause significant side
effects. “Most notably these include muscle aches but also memory loss, sleep disturbance and erectile dysfunction. However, these complaints are not uncommon in the general population for
a whole variety of reasons. “Therefore when patients take a statin and develop such symptoms, they understandably attribute them to the statin when it may not be the cause. This study shows
that this might indeed be the case. “Statins are a safe drug for people at risk of heart disease. The benefits far outweigh any perceived risk.” Dr Ian Campbell, a family GP from
Nottingham, said: “There’s no doubt statins do cause side effects in some patients. “But muscle aches and tiredness, though unwelcome, are not life-threatening. Statins are, ultimately, safe
and effective.” This comes after experts warned mixing statins with a fruit juice could be a deadly cocktail.