Cholesterol drug linked to long-lasting muscle injury

A study published this week suggests that taking cholesterol-lowering drugs could be linked to long-lasting muscle injury.  Statins, among the most-prescribed drugs in the world, have been thought to cause muscle pain, but the study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests the effects could be more damaging.  The research at the University of Bern, Switzerland and the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston found that of the 44 people who had reported pain and weakness, 25 had suffered significant injury to a large muscle in the thigh.  And while most patients typically report less pain within days after going off the drugs, the researchers were “surprised to find structural muscle injury in patients who had discontinued statin therapy for a considerable time,” including one who had been off statins for more than a year.  The amount of statins taken by the patients did not have an effect on their chances of developing muscle injury, the study said.  A 2007 study by the Public Health Agency of Canada found that 7.8 per cent of Canadians in 2002 used statins to combat high cholesterol.