GRAPEFRUIT AND STATINS SERIES

difficulty climbing stairs or getting out of a chair.weakness in the forearm, hips, thigh, shoulder, neck, and back muscles.There is no known cure, although treatments are available to manage symptoms. According to a 2018 review, it affects two to three statin users per 100,000. Immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM) is a rare condition that causes cells to die. On rare occasions, statins may also cause a person to develop more serious muscle conditions, such as: Immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy Scientists will need to carry out further studies to better understand what causes statin muscle pain. However, it is important to note that this study only tested one type of statin at a low dose on one age group. Another factor could be the “nocebo” effect, which occurs when peoples’ negative expectations of a drug cause them to experience symptoms.Īs many people are aware that statins may cause muscle pain before they take them, it is possible this could influence their perception of symptoms. They suggest that the pain may be due to other factors, such as age-related conditions, as most people in the study were 65–79 years old. The researchers found little difference between rates of muscle pain in either group. One group took 20 milligrams of atorvastatin per day for 2 months, while another took a placebo.

GRAPEFRUIT AND STATINS SERIES

‘Nocebo’ effectĪuthors of a 2021 study carried out a series of randomized, placebo-controlled trials on older adults who had previously experienced muscle pain while taking statins. The researchers suggest that statin muscle pain may affect individuals who are susceptible to it but that exercise may reverse the impact. Similarly, statins did not have any influence on muscle function or strength in rats, possibly because exercise prevented the statins from causing muscle damage. However, when the scientists applied electric stimulation to muscles, it did not seem to affect the muscles’ ability to move. This mechanism may explain the cause of SAMS. If this process becomes unstable, it can trigger tissue damage and cell death. Normally, muscles release some calcium upon stimulation. They observed that in human skeletal muscle, statin treatment disrupted the release of calcium from muscle cells. In a 2019 study, researchers looked at the impact of statins on muscles in both humans and rats over the course of 4 weeks. There are differing theories in the scientific community.

Scientists do not fully understand the exact cause of statin muscle pain. Share on Pinterest RealPeopleGroup/Getty Images

Grapefruit and statins