Statins - from Medicinal Use to Side Effects

One of the most common health problems all over the world is high cholesterol. There are so many people who are trying their best to fight against this growing risk by adapting some changes in lifestyles, eating habits and also with conventional treatment or alternate medication. There are so many types of drugs available and are in use that fall under the conventional treatment for cholesterol. Let us see some details about one of such type called Statin by studying its uses and side effects.

The basic properties of the drug class Statin is to reduce the production of the cholesterol. It basically restricts the liver to produce cholesterol, thus ensuring that the person does not suffer from atherosclerosis which is the cause of strokes, heart attacks and pain in the chest.

Statins are more often used to treat the high level of cholesterol. It is the most commonly prescribed class of drugs for reduction of cholesterol as well as for preventing and treating atherosclerosis. Statins has proved for past many years to be one of the most effective drugs for regulating this problem. But, on the other hand there are some very commonly seen side-effects as well.

Patients who have been on this medication have reportedly found to complain about some common problems after its consumption like headache, weakness, nausea, constipation/diarrhea, and rash and muscle pain. Very rarely there have been reports of liver failure seen due to the side effects of this drug. In some cases, the muscle pain has grown to reduction in muscle cells leading to other organ's failure like kidney failure and sometimes death.

The muscle pain as a side effect is a very common effect though, but has to be reported to the doctor immediately because of the risk involved. Usually those who face muscle pain as a side effect get pains in the shoulders, legs and jaws. Cramping can also be one of the side effects. Though, very rarely a muscle pain reaches the risky levels but excessive muscle pain is alarming and should be treated else can lead to failure of the muscle tissues.

For a pregnant woman statins are completely unadvisable because they can cause damage to the fetus or can cause severe adverse effects to the unborn. Some have also reported of problems like memory loss, again a very rare situation, but this can go up to amnesia lasting for few hours. Mood swings is another commonly observed side effect amongst statin consumers.

Now, there are again mainly two types of side effects that have been seen. First being the effects mentioned above and the other effects are caused when statins are consumed in combination with other medicines. There are certain drugs that are related to liver when combined with statins completely remove statins from the blood. Besides, a few drugs grapefruit juice when combined with statins can lead to certain interactions leading to muscle pain and muscle failure which consequently leads to liver or kidney failure. There are some drugs that fall under statins which do eliminate these problems.