Statin side effect heightened by knowledge of adversity, study concludes

A study conducted by Imperial College London has found that patients report more side effects when they know they are taking a statin than when they are not told they are on the drug.

The news comes after controversy around the drug which suggest it could cause adverse side effects, including muscle pain, cataracts, memory loss, erectile dysfunction and disrupted sleep. Patients are commonly prescribed statins to help lower their cholesterol, with many adults taking the drugs as a precaution to reduce their risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Published in the Lancet, the findings showed that patients report more side effects when they know they are taking the drug than when they are not told whether they are taking a statin or a dummy pill.

There have been widespread reports linking the cholesterol-lowering drugs with a range of side effects, based on observational studies where patients were not ‘blinded’ as to whether or not they were taking a statin or a placebo.

The researchers believe these studies may be influencing patients to link some of their symptoms to statins. Just as some people taking a placebo may experience real benefits by thinking they are taking an effective treatment, negative associations with a treatment could have the opposite effect, called the ‘nocebo’ effect.

Dr Ajay Gupta, a co-author of the study, commented: “There has been an enormous amount of publicity about statin-related side effects, and once people know they are taking the drug, things that commonly occur on their own might be attributed to that drug. That’s what we call the nocebo effect, where a patient is taking a tablet, they know what they are taking, and they develop a side effect which has been associated with the drug, but it is not related to the actual chemistry of the drug.”