For whom are statins dangerous?
Genetics: cholesterol-lowering pills are dangerous for a third of Russians
Scientists of the Genotek medical and genetic center found out that popular cholesterol-lowering drugs are life-threatening for about 36% of Russians with a genetic predisposition to the development of muscle diseases, the press service of the center reports.
According to WHO statistics, atherosclerosis and concomitant heart and vascular diseases are one of the main causes of heart attacks, and, accordingly, deaths in most countries of the world. As a rule, the disease begins with the accumulation of cholesterol plaques on the walls of blood vessels, which after a while leads to their thickening, accumulation of calcium in them and loss of flexibility.
So far, scientists have not discovered specific mechanisms for the formation of cholesterol plaques and calcareous deposits in the walls of blood vessels. On the other hand, about half a century ago, doctors discovered several substances from the class of so-called statins that block the synthesis of cholesterol and slow its accumulation on the inner surface of the arteries.
Statins, as Valery Ilyinsky, geneticist and CEO of Genotek, says, do not always remain absolutely safe for patients – in the presence of mutations in certain genes, such as SLCO1B1 and HMGCR, they begin to negatively affect muscle function. "Typos" in these genes, as scientists have recently found out, increase the risk of developing myopathy, muscle wasting and mass death of their cells by 5-16 times.
Ilyinsky and his colleagues checked how often such mutations occur in the genomes of the inhabitants of our country. To do this, they analyzed the data that Genotek collected among patients who were examined at the company's clinics in the first half of this year.
In total, over 2,100 people living in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi and other Russian cities and belonging to different age and social groups took part in these experiments.
As it turned out, a little more than a third of Russians turned out to have mutations in SLCO1B1, which make taking simvastatin, one of the popular types of these drugs, unsafe for their health. Scientists recommend contacting doctors before undergoing treatment with this drug.
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