Drugs to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease, taken by millions of people worldwide, increase the risk of cataracts, kidney failure, muscle pain and liver dysfunction, a study of more than 2 million Britons found.
The findings paint a fuller picture of the long-term risks of medications known as statins, such as Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor, the world’s top-selling drug, and AstraZeneca Plc’s Crestor, the researchers said. The study, released today by the British Medical Journal, failed to validate a range of potential benefits, other than lowering cholesterol, attributed to statins and quantified some risks.

Researchers have indicated that an enzyme found in coronary plaques may be responsible for significant number of cardiac patients suffering from heart attacks and stroke, despite the widespread use of cholesterol-lowering drugs. The enzyme makes plaque more vulnerable to rupture and block blood flow. According to new research, the drug darapladib, taken in adjunct to the treatment of statin drugs, may offer a way to fight that risk as it safely and effectively lowers the activity of the Lp-PLA2 enzyme.

Photo by Patrick J. Lynch