Sharjah24 – AFP: Cholesterol-lowering statins do not in fact cause muscle pain, despite a long-standing reputation that has discouraged many from taking the life-saving medication, researchers reported Thursday.

Statins are prescribed to prevent heart attack or stroke, but fears that they cause muscle symptoms have caused patients to abandon their treatment, potentially exposing them to greater risk of cardiovascular problems.   

The issue remains contentious, with multiple studies and official health services giving sometimes confusing advice.    

In the latest paper on the topic, researchers studied some 200 people across England and Wales who had recently stopped taking their medication because of muscle symptoms. 

Each person was randomly assigned to six, two-month treatment periods, when they were either given statins or a placebo. Neither the patient, nor their doctor were told which tablet they were receiving at any given time.   

Participants rated muscle symptoms -- pain, weakness, tenderness, stiffness, or cramp -- on a scale of one to 10 at the end of each treatment period.  

The study, published in the BMJ journal, combined the results from all the patients and found that there was no overall difference in muscle symptom scores between the statin and placebo periods.

While 18 people -- or nine percent of participants -- pulled out from the research because of intolerable muscle symptoms while they were taking statins, 13 (7 percent) stopped participating  for the same reason during a placebo period. 

Two-thirds of the patients who completed the trial reported restarting long-term treatment with statins, the study said.

The average age of participants was 69.5 and researchers said muscle aches and pains are common among the age group taking statins. 

In a previous study published in The Lancet journal in 2017, researchers from Imperial College London said multiple reports of side effects from statins appeared to have convinced people to experience them themselves.