LONDON — 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
For every 10,000 people taking a statin, there were about 271 fewer cases of heart disease, 8 fewer cases of esophageal cancer, 307 extra patients with cataracts, 23 additional patients with acute kidney failure, and 74 extra patients with liver dysfunction, researchers estimated.
“At the national level, our study is likely to be useful for policy and planning purposes,’’ said researchers led by Julia Hippisley-Cox, professor of epidemiology at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. “Given that statins are already among the most widely prescribed medicines and that their use is likely to continue to increase, both their intended and their unintended effects’’ must be identified, they said.
Researchers were unable to confirm suggestions in earlier studies that statins had the ability to protect against Parkinson’s disease, blood clots deep in the legs, rheumatoid arthritis, fractures, and dementia.
The research confirmed previous studies that found no clear link between statins and a reduced risk of most cancers, they said.
