By Peter Laird, MD
One of the most difficult aspects of cholesterol management for both the patient and the doctor is dealing with the several different side effects of statin therapy. In all of the years of prescribing statins, I only had one patient that developed myositis from the statin therapy which was stopped in time to prevent serious injury, but he never fully recovered his prior strength. He was quite a remarkable man. I first met him while doing a hospital intake during the middle of the night.
I did a complete examination, but only with him in his bed. The next morning, I came back to reevaluate his status and this time he was standing up beside his bed. It was the biggest double take I have ever taken. Standing before me was a man who was in his words, "5 foot 20 inches," yup 6 feet and 8 inches tall, most of it in his legs. He tells me he was the tallest man allowed in the Navy in WWII. Who can argue with someone "5 foot, 20 inches tall."
Yet, for many patients, stopping statins is all too frequent. The Mayo clinic established a specialty clinic dealing specifically with Statin Intolerance. Listen to Dr. Kopecky describe some of his findings in this research:
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