HEALTHY DIETS AND SCIENCE: Long-term exposure to statins may substantially increase the risk of polyneuropathy

The raison d'etre of this website is to provide you with hard scientific information which may help you make informed decisions in your quest for health (so far I have blogged concise summaries of over 1,500 scientific studies and have had three books published).

My research is mainly focused on the effects of cholesterol, saturated fat and statin drugs on health. If you know anyone who is worried about their cholesterol levels and heart disease, or has been told to take statin drugs you could send them a link to this website, and to my statin or cholesterol or heart disease books.

David Evans

Independent Health Researcher

Friday 30 April 2010

Long-term exposure to statins may substantially increase the risk of polyneuropathy

This post contains a summary of a study published in Neurology 2002 May 14;58(9):1333-7

Study title and authors:
Statins and risk of polyneuropathy: a case-control study.

Statin Drugs Side Effects and the Misguided War on Cholesterol

Books:

Gaist D, Jeppesen U, Andersen M, García Rodríguez LA, Hallas J, Sindrup SH.

Department of Neurology, Odense University Hospital, Denmark. dgaist@health.sdu.dk

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12011277

Damage to the peripheral nerves is called polyneuropathy. Pain, numbness or tingling starts in the feet or fingers and may spread.

This study investigated the risk of polyneuropathy in statin users. The authors of the study used a patient registry to identify first-time-ever cases of polyneuropathy. They found 166 cases of polyneuropathy and each case was compared with 25 control subjects. The cases were classified as definite (35), probable (54), or possible (77).

The study found:
(a) In all cases of polyneuropathy statin users had a 270% increased risk of developing the disease compared to non-users.
(b) In definite cases of polyneuropathy statin users had a 1320% increased risk of developing the disease compared to non-users.
(c) In all cases of polyneuropathy current statin users had a 360% increased risk of developing the disease compared to non-users.
(d) In definite cases of polyneuropathy current statin users had a 1510% increased risk of developing the disease compared to non-users.
(e) In definite cases of polyneuropathy patients treated with statins for two or more years had a 2640% increased risk of developing the disease compared to non-users.

The lead author of the study, Dr David Gaist from Odense University Hospital, concluded: "Long-term exposure to statins may substantially increase the risk of polyneuropathy".
More information on this subject: Books : Scientific Studies : Other Websites : Videos : Food Mall