Statins do not cause most of the side-effects listed on its package
Statins are highly effective drugs that lower LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels and have been repeatedly proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Statins do not cause the majority of the conditions that have been listed in their package leaflets, including memory loss, depression, sleep disturbance and erectile and sexual dysfunction according to the latest review of possible side effects.
The study was led by researchers at Oxford Population Health and published in The Lancet.
Cardiovascular disease results in around 20 million deaths worldwide.
Statins are highly effective drugs that lower LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels and have been repeatedly proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, there have been concerns about possible side effects.
Risk vs Benefit
The benefits of statins greatly outweighed the risk of side effects, the researchers found. “Statins are life-saving drugs used by hundreds of millions of people over the past 30 years. However, concerns about the safety of statins have deterred many people, who are at risk of severe disability or death from a heart attack or stroke,” said Christina Reith, Associate Professor at Oxford Population Health and lead author of the study.
Only four of the 66 side-effects listed were found to have any association with taking statins, and only in a very small proportion of patients, said Professor Bryan Williams, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at the British Heart Foundation. “This evidence is a much-needed counter to the misinformation around statins and should help prevent unnecessary deaths from cardiovascular disease. Recognising which side effects might genuinely be associated with statins is also important as it will help doctors make decisions about when to use alternative treatments,” he said.
Prof K Srinath Reddy, honorary distinguished professor at the Public Health Foundation of India (not attached with the study) said that statins have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of initial as well as recurrent cardiovascular events in persons who have elevated LDL cholesterol levels.
He added: “This evidence is gathered from large clinical trials- mostly in the Western population. Side effects like muscle pains with biochemical evidence of muscle damage is observed in a small number of patients. Moreover in statin intolerant patients other drugs like ezetimibe or bempedoic acid are also recommended. A combination of low dose statin and ezetimibe is also used to reduce blood cholesterol with a low risk of statin side effects.”
Story continues below this ad
Key findings:
There was no statistically significant excess risk from statin therapy for almost all the conditions listed in package leaflets as potential side effects — researchers found similar numbers of reports for those taking the statins and those taking the placebo. For example, each year, the frequency of reports of cognitive or memory impairment was 0.2% in those taking the statins, but also 0.2% in those taking the placebo. This means that while people may notice these problems whilst taking statins, there is no good evidence that they are caused by the statin.
Taking a statin did not cause any meaningful excess of memory loss or dementia, depression, sleep disturbance, erectile dysfunction, weight gain, nausea, fatigue or headache, and many other conditions.
There was a small increase in risk (about 0.1%) for liver blood test abnormalities. However, there was no increase in liver disease such as hepatitis or liver failure, indicating that the liver blood test changes do not typically lead to more serious liver problems.
Professor Sir Rory Collins, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Oxford Population Health and senior author of the paper said, “Statin product labels list certain adverse health outcomes as potential treatment-related effects based mainly on information from non-randomised studies which may be subject to bias. We brought together all of the information from large randomised trials to assess the evidence reliably. Now that we know that statins do not cause the majority of side effects listed in package leaflets, statin information requires rapid revision to help patients and doctors make better-informed health decisions.”
Story continues below this ad
The findings are based on data from 23 large-scale randomised studies from the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ (CTT) Collaboration: 123,940 participants in 19 large-scale clinical trials comparing the effects of statin therapies against a placebo (or dummy tablet), and 30,724 participants in four trials comparing more intensive versus less intensive statin therapy. The CTT is a joint initiative between research institutes from the UK and Australia that brings together international evidence.
Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues .
Professional Background
Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature.
Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO.
Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives.
Awards and Recognition
Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.”
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care
"Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease.
Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose.
2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series)
Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs.
"For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune.
3. Lifestyle & Wellness News
"They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions.
At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents.
4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure
For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics.
Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far.
Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership
Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions.
... Read More
