RESEARCH - Muscle damage from statins may evade blood test

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Muscle Damage From Statins May Evade Blood Test

Normal CPK Test Doesn't Rule Out Muscle Injury

By Salynn Boyles

WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

July 6, 2009 - Statin users with prolonged statin-related muscle pain

may also experience muscle damage, even when a blood test used to

identify muscle injury is normal, new research shows.

Studies suggest that between 10% and 15% of patients who take

cholesterol-lowering statin drugs like Crestor, Lipitor, Lescol,

Mevacor, Zocor, and Pravachol experience muscle pain as a side effect

of treatment.

Most do not end up with muscle damage, and a simple blood test is

routinely performed to identify patients who do.

But the new study suggests the test for elevated levels of an enzyme

associated with muscle injury, known as creatine phosphokinase or CPK,

may be less accurate than widely believed.

“The patients in our study were unusual in that they had experienced

weeks to months of persistent muscle problems,” H. Karas, MD,

PhD, tells WebMD. “We found that these patients can have evidence of

microscopic damage to their muscles even with a normal CPK.”

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http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/news/20090706/muscle-damage-from-sta\

tins-may-evade-blood-test

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