New study enables identification of people at particular risk of rare, but serious, muscle-related side effect of statin therapy

Statins are prescribed to millions of people worldwide to reduce their risks of suffering heart attacks and strokes. Researchers at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, in collaboration with other researchers, have published new findings that identify a combination of factors that put some patients at higher risk of myopathy, which is a rare side-effect of statin therapy characterised by muscle pain or weakness in combination with high blood levels of creatine kinase, a marker of muscle damage.

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