Adapted from BMJ 21-28 Feb 2026
The Cholesterol Treatments Trials Collaboration set out to get reliable information on the side effects of statins. These are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs. The long list of side effects that are included in product information and in the BNF are mainly based on non-randomised and non-blinded studies and could be subject to bias.
The Collaboration did a meta-analysis of 19 randomised controlled trials covering 100,000 participants.
The side effects were:
Muscle pain
Diabetes
Less commonly there were:
abnormal liver function tests
urinary composition alteration
oedema (fluid retention)
There were no reliable indication of these previously reported symptoms:
cognitive impairment
depression
sleep disturbance
sexual dysfunction
Diabetes Diet 