The cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins have long been thought to be the cause of some muscle pains, sometimes confounding or delaying the diagnosis of other acute or chronic pain conditions. This large meta-analysis of just under 124 000 participants found that statin therapy caused a small excess of mostly mild muscle pain. Most (>90%) of all reports of muscle symptoms by participants allocated statin therapy were not due to the statin. The small risks of muscle symptoms are much lower than the known cardiovascular benefits.
PainSA is a chapter of the International Association for the Study of Pain. Our mission is to improve all aspects of pain management in Southern Africa.