Are Statin Drugs Safe?

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Are Statin Drugs Safe?
Statin drugs work by blocking the action of the liver enzyme that is responsible for producing cholesterol. Your doctor can do a simple blood test to determine the amount of cholesterol in blood. If you have increased levels of LDL ("bad”) cholesterol, then there are  greater chance of heart disease.
I haven't yet had a conversation with my doctor so he hasn't recommended statins yet. He did include the annotation suggesting I might want to see a cardiologist. (I'm thinking that was because a cardiologist might possibly be better able to evaluate the results?)

If you experience any unexplained joint or muscle pain, tenderness, weakness while taking statins, you should immediately call your doctor. Pregnant women or those are with chronic liver disease should not use statins.


Meanwhile here are some more questions:

1. It has not been validated by the FDA or anybody else. Pubmed is almost none existent with regards to NMR lipoprofile.
Does this give me an argument with my doctor in case he says the NMR trumps the standard profile, even with respect to LDL-P? If he had seen only the standard profile, i doubt he would recommend statins. (I'm not even sure he was planning do that now, and may have been hoping I'd do a cardiology consult that would guide him.)

2. The number of particles trumps the quality of particles. A few bad particles is not as bad as having many bad particles. The LDL-P is the particle number.
Did you mean "a few bad (small) particles is not as bad as having many non-bad (large) particles"?

3. Are my low VLDP and low triglycerides on the standard panel reliable measurements? If so, do they have any bearing on, and do they mitigate, my NMR risk profile, especially since, as you say, the NMR test has not really been vetted?

4. Your HDL-P is also high risk according the them.
True, but would statins increase that number? I thought the main way to increase HDL is lifestyle changes. My HDL on the standard panel was fine, and during the past three weeks (the interval between the two tests) I've really slacked off on exercise. Also, there's the "according to them" factor.

I know you are a fan of statins. But I just read a NYT article that makes me even less inclined to want to take them.

A Fitness Downside to Statin Drugs

Animals moved less if they were taking statins than if they were not taking the drugs.  Mice on statins developed fewer advantageous physical changes within their muscles than animals that were not given the drugs.
Last November, in an article published in JAMA, a group of scientists proposed that any adult past the age of 40 with even a single risk factor for CVD start taking a statin. 

Statins are already one of the most widely prescribed drugs on earth.If implemented widely, that recommendation would vastly increase the number of people using the drugs. But statins are not without risks. They have been found to increase the risk for Type 2 diabetes. They also can result in muscle aches and fatigue. In some studies  20 percent report significant muscle pain, with the incidence even higher among people who exercise while taking statins.

Other studies indicate that aerobic fitness, which depends to a large degree on how much people move, may be a better predictor of life span and even of risks for heart disease than cholesterol levels.
So I would prefer not taking statins unless there is an overwhelming argument that I need them.

Statins have been among the most prescribed drugs in the U.S.A with more than 15 million users. 


The statin medications that are approved for use in the U.S.A indicated below :

° Lipitor

° Livalo

° Mevacor or Altocor

° Zocor

° Pravachol

° Lescol

° Crestor

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