Our cardiovascular patients often take statins, and the two common side effects of this type of drugs tell you how to identify them early and how to avoid side effects.
The first common side effect is abnormalities in liver function. Someone who took statins experienced an elevation of aminotransferases. This indicates that there is some effect on the liver. Statin metabolism takes place in the liver, so when liver enzymes are elevated, they need to be analyzed.
If there is only a mild elevation, you can watch closely, increase the number of repeat tests, or change the statin type or reduce the dose of statin under the guidance of your doctor. If the elevation is more than 3 times, the drug needs to be discontinued and, if necessary, treated with hepatoprotective drugs.
Therefore, it is necessary to check liver function before taking statins and one month after taking the medicine to prevent side effects of liver damage.
The side effects of statins are also dose-dependent, and when larger doses are used, the risk of liver damage is significantly increased, so they should be used under the guidance of a doctor. Like hydrophilic rosuvastatin, it has less effect on the liver, and people with poor liver function can choose rosuvastatin.
The second common side effect is skeletal muscle damage. There are 3 main conditions: myalgia, myositis, and rhabdomyolysis.
Some patients have muscle soreness after taking statins, accompanied by fatigue and weakness, but the muscle enzymes and other indicators are normal, and the side effects of statins are suspected, and the symptoms disappear after stopping the drug, and the symptoms appear again after taking the medicine, which means that this myalgia is one of the side effects of statins.
Some patients have myalgia, muscle soreness and weakness, and then a blood test reveals a specific indicator of creatine kinase is significantly elevated, which indicates that statins have affected skeletal muscle, producing symptoms of myositis.
There are also very rare patients, after taking statins, muscle pain and weakness, urinating and finding soy sauce-colored urine, examination found that creatine kinase is significantly elevated, accompanied by myoglobinuria, at this time myoglobin is easy to block the renal tubules of the kidneys, causing acute renal failure. This is a very dangerous side effect and needs to be taken seriously.
Therefore, for friends who take statins, in addition to checking liver function, an important indicator should also be checked, which is the level of creatine kinase. Of course, the occurrence of such side effects is generally in the early stage of taking the drug, if there is an abnormality within one month of taking the drug, it should be checked in time, and then every six months or a year.
In addition to the above-mentioned side effects, statins also have a side effect that needs to be paid attention to, that is, taking statins causes blood sugar to rise. Especially for people who are prone to diabetes, such as obesity, inactivity, the elderly, and pre-diabetic, taking statins is more likely to cause an increase in blood sugar. When larger doses of statins are taken, there is a higher probability of an increase in blood sugar.
Therefore, it is necessary to weigh the pros and cons of taking statins, and for people at high risk of cardiovascular disease, they need to choose to take them under the guidance of a doctor, but pay attention to monitoring the occurrence of side effects. Data show that if taking statins causes diabetes, it can prevent the occurrence of 9 myocardial infarctions, so you should still eat it. As long as you keep your mouth shut, open your legs, and adjust your lifestyle, most of the side effects of elevated blood sugar can be avoided.
To sum up, statins have 2 common side effects, but they can be detected early through their own performance and laboratory tests. Adjusting your lifestyle while taking statins can minimize side effects.
Cardiocerebral tube Dr. Tang
Editor: Xiang Yanhong