Safety of statins

Abstract

The discovery of statins, was a landmark in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, where cholesterol plays a central pathophysiologic role. Currently there are 7 statins, which according to recent meta-analytic studies did not reveal significant differences in effectiveness measured by results of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This means that the selection of a particular statin, could be very important aspects of safety and cost. The two adverse reactions greater interest currently on statins are rhabdomyolysis and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus; the first is an adverse reaction appeared almost from the birth of these drugs and caused the withdrawal of cerivastatin, while the second has been recently reported. Significant differences have been reported between different statins, in relation to the two mentioned adverse reactions.