Study shows statins may have huge side-effects

CHOLESTEROL-lowering drugs taken by four million Britons could cause a range of serious side-effects, new research suggests.

The study found that some statins can lead to an increased risk of liver dysfunction, acute kidney failure, muscle damage and cataracts.

Statins are used to treat people with high cholesterol and to cut the chances of heart disease or strokes. Some side- effects are already known,

including insomnia, constipation or diarrhoea, loss of appetite and loss of sensation or pain in the nerve endings in hands and feet.

Nevertheless, experts and charities said the benefits of statins – such as saving lives from heart disease – still outweigh the risks.

The research, published in the British Medical Journal, involved analysing data from 368 GP practices and more than two million patients in England and Wales.

The authors said the higher the dose of a statin, the more at risk a patient was from acute renal failure and liver dysfunction.