Managing statin myopathy.

Approximately 10% of patients treated with statins experience some form of muscle-related side effects in clinical practice. These can range from asymptomatic creatine kinase (CK) elevation, to muscle pain, weakness, and its most severe form, rhabdomyolysis. Higher risk patients for statin myopathy are those older than 80, with a small body frame, on higher statin doses, on other medications, or with other systemic diseases including hepatic or renal diseases, diabetes mellitus, or hypothyroidism. The cause of statin myopathy is presumed to be the same for its variable presentation but has not been defined. In patients with myopathic symptoms, their symptoms and CK levels determine whether statin therapy can be continued or must be stopped.