Much-maligned statins have received a rare positive shot in the arm, with a new review showing they are not associated with tendon rupture – and may even reduce the risk of tendinopathy.
A systematic review published in the Medical Journal of Australia this week debunked previous conjecture linking statin use with tendon ruptures.
Lead author and Melbourne rheumatologist Dr Andrew Teichtahl said the review included four studies published between 2009-2015, three of which had tendon rupture as the primary outcome and rotor cuff disease as the fourth.
He said they had found no study reported an association between statin therapy and tendon rupture, adding that this class of drugs had received a “fair amount” of negative attention, and it was “nice to see an unbiased opinion to give statins a bit of a rap really.”
“A lot of the stuff with the statins is a bit of a storm in a teacup,” he told the limbic.
“The message for specialists is that there is no evidence for increased risk and there may actually be a reduction in risk. There is no need to worry about ruptures with statins.”
He said the discovery that statins may potentially play a preventive role was quite exciting, but it would need to be studied further.