Do statins cause MC?
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Do statins cause MC?
I am recently diagnosed with lymphocytic MC. Have been on simvistatin for 2-3 years (to lower my cholesterol). I read that statins might bring MC on. Don't find any posts about it. Thanks.
Dink/St. Joseph, MO
Hi Dink,
Welcome to the discussion board. That's not a commonly discussed topic on this board, because most of us refuse to take statins, due to the risks involved and the lack of benefits (IOW, due to their poor risk/reward ratio).
There's definitely an association between many medications (including statins) and the development of MC. Note that due to moral issues, and lack of funding, it's very unlikely that statins (or any other medications) will ever be proven by rigid, random, double-blind testing to cause MC. So there will never be "official" medical proof, only epidemiological evidence, such as the data associated with the experiences of the members of this board.
But in the meantime, here's a link to a reference that lists medications associated with the development of MC:
Drug Consumption and the Risk of Microscopic Colitis
Note that the medications include NSAIDs, SSRIs, beta-blockers, statins, and biphosphonates. For some reason or other, the authors of that article missed antibiotics and PPIs (both of these classes of drugs are major causes of MC), and SNRIs and H2 blockers have also been known to trigger MC flares for some individuals, though the risk appears to be lower.
Tex
Welcome to the discussion board. That's not a commonly discussed topic on this board, because most of us refuse to take statins, due to the risks involved and the lack of benefits (IOW, due to their poor risk/reward ratio).
There's definitely an association between many medications (including statins) and the development of MC. Note that due to moral issues, and lack of funding, it's very unlikely that statins (or any other medications) will ever be proven by rigid, random, double-blind testing to cause MC. So there will never be "official" medical proof, only epidemiological evidence, such as the data associated with the experiences of the members of this board.
But in the meantime, here's a link to a reference that lists medications associated with the development of MC:
Drug Consumption and the Risk of Microscopic Colitis
Note that the medications include NSAIDs, SSRIs, beta-blockers, statins, and biphosphonates. For some reason or other, the authors of that article missed antibiotics and PPIs (both of these classes of drugs are major causes of MC), and SNRIs and H2 blockers have also been known to trigger MC flares for some individuals, though the risk appears to be lower.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.