Unwanted Crestor side effects

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The safety profile of the statin rosuvastatin and the crestor side effects has been debated quite a lot recently. Many articles have been published about complications associated with this class of cholesterol lowering drug, the statins, but will we ever know the whole truth?

A recent article published in the May 2005 issue of the journal of the American Heart Association “Circulation” addresses the topic of crestor and its potential side effects and sheds some light on the issue. Unfortunately it doesn’t offer much in the way of good news for the many people taking crestor everyday to keep their cholesterol levels under control.

Are reports of unwanted crestor side effects warranted?

Initially, the article briefly looks into the background of statin drugs (lipitor, lescol, mevacor, pravacol, zocor and of course crestor) and their use in cholesterol management. Secondly, the writers reviewed crestor events and side-effects reported to the FDA within the first year of marketing of this new statin drug. From examining the various reports in relation to other drugs from the statin class the writers reached their conclusion: “With either timeframe comparison, rosuvastatin (crestor) was significantly more likely to be associated with the composite end point of rhabdomyolysis, proteinuria, nephropathy, or renal failure AERs. Reported cases of rhabdomyolysis, proteinuria, or renal failure tended to occur early after the initiation of therapy and at relatively modest doses of rosuvastatin.”

The Safety of Rosuvastatin (crestor) as Used in Common Clinical Practice

Background
Statins are currently the mainstay of dyslipidemia management for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Controversial concerns about the safety of the newly marketed statin rosuvastatin have been raised on the basis of premarketing studies and a few postmarketing reports.

Methods and Results
We reviewed rosuvastatin-associated adverse events reported to the US Food and Drug Administration over its first year of marketing. On the basis of prescription data obtained from IMS Health, rates of adverse event reports (AERs) per million prescriptions were calculated. Rates of rosuvastatin-associated AERs over its first year of marketing were compared with those seen with atorvastatin, simvastatin, and pravastatin over the concurrent timeframe and during their respective first years of marketing. Comparison was also made to the first year of marketing of cerivastatin. The primary analysis examined the composite end point of AERs of rhabdomyolysis, proteinuria, nephropathy, or renal failure. With either timeframe comparison, rosuvastatin was significantly more likely to be associated with the composite end point of rhabdomyolysis, proteinuria, nephropathy, or renal failure AERs. Reported cases of rhabdomyolysis, proteinuria, or renal failure tended to occur early after the initiation of therapy and at relatively modest doses of rosuvastatin. The increased rate of rosuvastatin-associated AERs relative to other widely used statins was also observed in secondary analyses when other categories of AERs were examined, including adverse events with serious outcomes, liver toxicity, and muscle toxicity without rhabdomyolysis.

Conclusions
The present analysis supports concerns about the relative safety of rosuvastatin at the range of doses used in common clinical practice in the general population.

The Safety of Rosuvastatin as Used in Common Clinical Practice
A Postmarketing Analysis (Circulation. 2005;111:3051-3057.) © 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.
Alawi A. Alsheikh-Ali, MD; Marietta S. Ambrose, MD; Jeffrey T. Kuvin, MD; Richard H. Karas, MD, PhD
From the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute and Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Tufts-New England Medical Center, and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.

So, from looking through the article above, once again it looks as if the widely used statin drugs, such as lipitor, lescol, mevacor, pravacol, zocor and of course crestor are not totally without unwanted adverse events, side effects and complications. The battle again cholesterol seems a dangerous one. Are crestor side effects something to take seriously – the above article seems to indicate that some risks are possible.