Cholesterol Drug Side Effects: New Study Shows Increase in Joint, Spine, and Ligament Problems

cholesterol drug side effects

Are there even more cholesterol drug side effects than we knew? I’ve had a love/hate relationship with statin cholesterol lowering drugs for years. Lately it’s been the latter.

It all began with inheriting my father’s genetic predisposition to high cholesterol. From my very first cholesterol test in my 20s, I was concerned. My first attempt at looking at solutions seemed to find a well accepted answer in statins. So like a good little sheep I promptly started taking them like many Americans do. My first inkling that this could be a problem came when my wife and I were trying to have kids via IVF. The doctor told me that statins might hurt our chances of conceiving, so I stopped and we had kids.

The second concern came when I read a news article about how the Pharma industry had over-hyped the benefits of these drugs. For example, a puny 1% decrease in cardiac deaths over about 5 years (the drug companies report the “relative risk reduction”, which looks much bigger). Then in about 2006-2007 when we were culturing stem cells, we noted that some patients on statins didn’t grow good cells. When we took them off the statins and took new cells, their cells grew fine. Since that day I’ve looked under the hood of the statin monopoly and found bad things. For example, these drugs harm muscles. Other studies have shown that statins are linked to more arthritis in animal models and worse arthritis function in humans. 

Academics have criticized these drugs for robbing cells of their energyrobbing patients of their memory, and hurting nerve cells. So seeing a brand new paper this morning that statins were associated with more musculoskeletal injury was not a surprise. The study looked at injuries in a military health system over five years in almost 13,000 patients who took statins and almost 46,000 who didn’t. In the statin patients, there was a 26% increase in arthritis, a 20% increase in spine problems, a 13% increase in sprains, and a 9% increase in musculoskeletal pain.

The upshot? First, statin drugs represent the worst of our Pharma controlled medical system. For example, we now have cardiologists on the Pharma dole advocating that we need to start our children on these drugs. No thanks. Second, by taking statins for 5 years, you can decrease your risk of a heart attack by about 1%, while increasing your risk for arthritis and other problems about 9-26 times that amount. Then there are the other nasty side effects as listed above. You can get better or similar heart protective effects from eating blueberries or dark chocolate. Here’s to more blueberry laced dark chocolate, hold the statins!

Learn More About Regenexx® Procedures
Request a digital booklet and more information to learn about alternatives to orthopedic surgery and the Regenexx patient experience.
We do not sell, or share your information to third party vendors. By submitting the form you agree that you've read and consent to our Privacy Policy.
Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile

If you have questions or comments about this blog post, please email us at [email protected]

NOTE: This blog post provides general information to help the reader better understand regenerative medicine, musculoskeletal health, and related subjects. All content provided in this blog, website, or any linked materials, including text, graphics, images, patient profiles, outcomes, and information, are not intended and should not be considered or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please always consult with a professional and certified healthcare provider to discuss if a treatment is right for you.

TO TOP