MEDICATION - Could statin side effects be a thing of the past?

Could statin side effects be a thing of the past? New tests allow scientists to work out who will be affected, paving the way for new treatments

• - Thousands of people suffer side effects while taking heart disease drugs
• - These cause some to stop taking them, putting them at risk of heart attacks
• - Side effects include swelling around the mouth and muscle weakness
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By EMMA INNES

PUBLISHED: 08:59 GMT, 26 September 2013 | UPDATED: 08:59 GMT, 26 September 2013

Scientists can now predict which patients will suffer severe side effects when taking statins

Scientists can now predict which patients will suffer severe side effects when taking statins.

The development could pave the way for the creation of new treatments for heart disease sufferers.

Thousands of people with heart disease suffer severe adverse reactions to some of the main drugs - statins and ACE inhibitors - that are used to treat it.

Now, new research by the University of Dundee suggests that genetic testing could be used to predict these side effects.

'Statins and ACE inhibitors are the most effective drugs at preventing cardiovascular disease, but they need to be used better,' said Professor Colin Palmer, from the University of Dundee, who is leading the study. 

'There are millions of people being treated with these drugs in the UK alone and a significant number of them will suffer some pretty nasty reactions.

'This not only results in harm to the patients but it also leads to the treatment being discontinued and therefore placing them at greater risk of problems arising from heart disease.'

Professor Palmer explained that affordable genome sequencing techniques means it is now possible to identify 'biomarkers' which signal whether a patient can take the drugs safely or not.

He is hoping to develop a commercially available clinical test which would allow doctors to easily establish whether it is safe to give a patient the drugs.

Around one per cent of patients receiving ACE inhibitors – drugs which relax the blood vessels to lower blood pressure - will suffer angioedema, a reaction which causes swelling around the mouth and lips. 

About one in 1,000 - taking statins will suffer myopathy, which causes muscle weakness and damage.

With millions of people being prescribed these drugs, it means thousands are suffering these adverse reactions.

New research by the University of Dundee suggests genetic testing could be used to predict who will experience side effects such as swelling around the mouth and muscle weakness

'We are at a stage in genetic research where the advent of affordable whole genome sequencing gives us new opportunities to see whether people are predisposed to these kinds of reactions when given these drugs,' said Professor Palmer. 

'If we can successfully identify the genetic factors at play we can then develop a test which could predict a patient's reaction to the drugs.

'That would make the drugs far more effective in that we could ensure the right patients are being given the right drugs and not the ones that may cause them pretty serious problems.'