Living With Statins - The Impact of Cholesterol Lowering Drugs on Health, Lifestyle and Well-being

Detailed Summary

Background Statins are cholesterol lowering drugs that are prescribed to lower the risk of cardio-vascular diseases. The use of statins has increased markedly and it is now one of the most prescribed drugs in the world. 600,000 people in Denmark are taking statins on a daily basis, 40 % of these are taking the medication without having any other risk factors for cardio-vascular diseases than elevated blood-cholesterol i.e. they are in primary prevention. Statins are not without side effects and studies have shown that there is an elevated risk of developing diabetes when taking statins. This has led to an increased debate about the use of statins in primary prevention. Furthermore a large meta-analysis has shown that to prevent one event of cardio-vascular disease, it is necessary to treat 200 people for 3-5 years. These data suggest that more conservative use of statins to prevent CVD in otherwise healthy individuals at low risk for future CVD may be warranted. Other side effects of statins are muscle myalgia, muscle cramps and fatigue which potentially can prevent a physically active lifestyle. The biomedical background of these side effects is not fully elucidated but it has been shown that there is a link to decreasing levels of an important enzyme, Q10, which plays a role in muscle energy metabolism. Hypothesis The overarching research question is: why does statin treatment cause muscle pain? Does statin treatment impair (or even prevent) physical exercise training? Furthermore we would like to answer the following questions: 1. Does statin treatment impair (or even prohibit) physical exercise training? 2. Does statin treatment cause: * Decreased muscle strength? * Skeletal muscle inflammation? * Decreased mitochondrial respiratory function? 3. Abnormal glucose homeostasis?

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