Statins and risk of
polyneuropathy: a case-control study.
Gaist D, Jeppesen U, Andersen M, Garcia Rodriguez LA,
Hallas J, Sindrup SH.
Department of Neurology, Odense
University Hospital, Denmark. dgaist@health.sdu.dk
BACKGROUND: Several case reports and a single
epidemiologic study indicate that use of statins
occasionally may have a deleterious effect on the
peripheral nervous system. The authors therefore
performed a population-based study to estimate the
relative risk of idiopathic polyneuropathy in users of
statins.
METHOD: The authors used a population-based patient registry to identify first-time-ever cases of idiopathic polyneuropathy registered in the 5-year period 1994 to 1998. For each case, validated according to predefined criteria, 25 control subjects were randomly selected among subjects from the background population matched for age, sex, and calendar time. The authors used a prescription register to assess exposure to drugs and estimated the odds ratio of use of statins (ever and current use) in cases of idiopathic polyneuropathy compared with control subjects.
RESULTS: The authors verified a diagnosis of idiopathic polyneuropathy in 166 cases. The cases were classified as definite (35), probable (54), or possible (77). The odds ratio linking idiopathic polyneuropathy with statin use was 3.7 (95% CI 1.8 to 7.6) for all cases and 14.2 (5.3 to 38.0) for definite cases. The corresponding odds ratios in current users were 4.6 (2.1 to 10.0) for all cases and 16.1 (5.7 to 45.4) for definite cases. For patients treated with statins for 2 or more years the odds ratio of definite idiopathic polyneuropathy was 26.4 (7.8 to 45.4).
CONCLUSIONS: Long-term
exposure to statins may substantially increase the risk
of polyneuropathy.
PMID: 12011277 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may increase the risk of nerve damage called neuropathy.
But the well-known benefits of statins far outweigh the risk of neuropathy, which remains very low.
[This is absolutely false data by Dr. Mercola!]
Peripheral neuropathy occurs when nerves in the peripheral nervous system -- those outside of the brain and spinal cord -- become damaged. Symptoms vary but may include tingling, numbness and burning pain as well as decreased sensitivity to temperature or pain.
Diabetes, kidney disease, thyroid disease and alcohol abuse can all lead to neuropathy, but the nerve damage, known as polyneuropathy when it affects more than one nerve, may develop independently of these conditions.
As more and more people have started taking statins on a long-term basis, a small number of patients have developed cases of nerve damage with no apparent obvious cause. Investigators report the results of a larger study that seems to confirm the link between statins and neuropathy. In the population-based study in a Danish county, the researchers identified 166 first-time cases of neuropathy that did not have an obvious cause.
The cases were divided into definite, probable and possible cases depending on how certain the researchers were that the nerve damage could not have been caused by some other condition. Nine of the patients had taken statins, with the average length of treatment being nearly 3 years.
Compared to a "control" group of people who did not have neuropathy, people who had taken statins were 4 to 14 times more likely to develop polyneuropathy that did not have a known cause.
Several of the statins taken by patients in the study list peripheral neuropathy as a possible side effect.
Neurology May 14, 2002;58:1321-1322, 1333-1337
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