Man Left Unable To Walk After Taking Common Medication For High Cholesterol

Statin drugs are notorious for causing muscle problems. But that is not all, as their additional side effects include memory loss, fatigue, diabetes, liver problems, kidney problems, nerve damage, and more.

The muscle damage that results from the use of statins is caused by the drugs lowering levels of the key nutrient coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). Pharmaceutical company Merck certainly knows about this, as in May and June 1990 it took out patents on the use of CoQ10 in combination with statin drugs.

But despite apparently believing that the inclusion of CoQ10 with statins would be of “considerable benefit” to patients, Merck has never marketed any products containing this combination. We can therefore only assume that the company’s main motivation at the time it took out these patents was essentially to prevent others from doing so. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials has since confirmed that supplementation with CoQ10 ameliorates statin-induced muscle damage.

To read how research from Australia has linked use of statins with a significantly increased risk of idiopathic inflammatory myositis, a serious muscle disease that can lead to permanent disability and death, see this article on our website.