6 Apr 2023 • Despite their reputation for causing muscle injury, a new study suggests statins won't worsen the toll that sustained, moderately intensive exercise takes on patients' muscles. The study results were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

• The findings come from 100 individuals, of whom about two thirds were on statins, participating in a public, 4-day, long-distance walking event held annually in the Netherlands.
• They included 35 statin users who walked the event despite muscle symptoms, 34 on statins but without such symptoms, and 31 nonstatin-using controls. Their mean ages ranged from 65 to 68 years.
• Statin users were overwhelmingly on simvastatin or atorvastatin. The average statin therapy durations were 60 months and 96 months for those with and without symptoms, respectively.
• All biomarkers of muscle injury or stress were at comparable levels at baseline in the three groups and went up similarly with no significant differences at the end of day 3
• Statin-related reductions in levels of coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ10) have been thought to exacerbate muscle injury, the authors note. But levels of CoQ10 weren't significantly different across the three groups at any point in the study

The current study indeed suggests that many patients who develop statin-associated muscle symptoms(SAMS) may engage in a moderately intensive walking program without concern for worsened muscle biomarkers or performance. But it remains uncertain from this study whether sustained exercise in SAMS patients will effectuate improved metabolic biomarkers or exercise capacity in the long term.

Source: Medscape |Read full story