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Past studies have been a bit all over the place. Some said statins increased the risk of tendon issues, even tendon ruptures, while others suggested the opposite. This new study aimed to clear things up by looking at a huge number of people – over 84,000 statin users and 168,000 people who didn’t take statins. They wanted to see if the statin group had more tendon problems like trigger finger, tennis elbow, rotator cuff issues, or Achilles tendinopathy.
And guess what? The study found that people taking statins had a 43.5% higher chance of developing tendinopathy compared to those not on statins. That’s a pretty big difference.
🤔Are Some Statins Worse Than Others?
The researchers also looked at specific types of statins to see if any were better or worse. They focused on atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, and simvastatin. Here’s what they found:
Atorvastatin and Simvastatin: These two had the highest rates of tendinopathy across all the different types of tendon problems they looked at.
Rosuvastatin: This one was a bit mixed. It had higher rates of trigger finger, elbow tendinopathies, and shoulder tendinopathies. But interestingly, it didn’t show higher rates for de Quervain’s tenosynovitis or Achilles tendinopathy.
Other Statins: All the other statins, grouped together, also showed significantly higher rates of tendinopathy across the board.
So, it seems like it doesn’t really matter which statin you’re on; they all seem to increase your risk of tendon problems to some extent.
🤔Does How Long You Take Statins Matter?
You might think that the longer you take a statin, the higher your risk of tendon issues. The study looked into this by checking something called the “cumulative defined daily dose,” which is basically the total amount of medicine someone has taken over time. They found that statin users still had more tendon problems than non-users, no matter how much they had taken overall.
But here’s the interesting part: the risk of developing tendinopathies was actually highest in the first three months after starting a statin. It was 134% higher in that initial period. Between three and six months, it was 121% higher. After six months on the medication, the risk dropped significantly to only 12% higher. This suggests that if you’re going to experience tendon issues from statins, it’s most likely to happen early on.
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