More Good News on the Safety on Statins

As reported on Medscape:

Muscle and liver adverse effects of simvastatin 40 mg daily were evaluated in a randomized placebo-controlled trial involving 20,536 UK patients with vascular disease or diabetes (in which a substantial reduction of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity has previously been demonstrated).

The excess incidence of myopathy in the simvastatin group was < 0.1% over the 5 years of the trial, and there were no significant differences between the treatment groups in the incidence of serious hepatobiliary disease.

This led the authors to conclude:

1. Among the many different types of high-risk patient studied (including women, older individuals and those with low cholesterol levels), there was a very low incidence (< 0.1%) of myopathy during 5 years treatment with simvastatin 40 mg daily. 
2. The risk of hepatitis, if any, was undetectable even in this very large long-term trial. 
3. Routine monitoring of liver function tests during treatment with simvastatin 40 mg is not useful.