Statins May Cause Kidney Disease And High Creatinine Levels

Recently, researchers warned people who are taking high-dose of statins are running high risk for kidney problem which can cause high creatinine level.

Statins are a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels in clinic and they works by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which plays a central role in the production of cholesterol in the liver. Also, they have function to block vascular endothelial inflammation, stabilize atherosclerotic plaque, improve vascular endothelial function, protect nerve system and prevent thrombus and so on. Statins is very necessary in lowering cholesterol level; however, large study found that patients who are taking higher doses of statins are 34% percent more likely to be hospitalized for acute kidney injured.

Kidney is a bean-shaped organ with multiple functions. One of the major function of kidney is to filtered blood and discharge wastes like creatinine and urea nitrogen that are produced by our body. However, when kidney function is suddenly impaired, excess creatinine can not be discharged timely and thus lead to high creatinine level. Common signs for kidney injury include dark urine, difficulty urinating or less frequent urination. Since there is link between kidney damages and statins, it is necessary for people who are taking statins to pay extra attention to their kidneys and go to hospital immediately once they begin to have kidney disease symptoms.

Theory that statins may cause kidney disease and high creatinine is posed by Canadian researchers which analyzed the health records from more than 2 million people aged 40 or older with or without kidney disease. For these patients without kidney disease, they may thus suffer from high creatinine level because of statins; but for these who are kidney disease patient, they may found their creatinine level becomes much higher than before due to taking high-dose statins.

Lastly, the issue that statins may cause kidney disease and high creatinine level is relatively new and not known by many people. Therefore, if you know anyone who are taking statins, please remember to inform him/her to go to doctors to take an alternative medicines to deal with cholesterol problems.