Again, the reason my cardiologist took me off was my last blood test - Liver readings not good! Apparently, taking statins & Liver issues are common!
Check out the article on Web MD - Cholesterol Management 101
In the article it was stated:
“Outside of measuring liver biochemistries for the purpose of periodically updating a patient’s medical history, we can find no scientific or medical basis for monitoring aminotransferase levels during long-term statin therapy as a measure to enhance patient safety. We acknowledge that the Panel’s recommendations are at odds with current prescribing information for marketed statins; however, we are optimistic that the regulatory agencies and pharmaceutical industry will update their recommendations to be consistent with evidence-based data cited in this article.”
Well, they think it is not an issue! Especially if statins help with heart disease! Futhermore:
Well what does this mean? In a nutshell it means that for too long many people have been denied life saving statins. There is solid evidence that they markedly decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. I was actually stunned when I looked at the package inserts for all the statins that are sold. The recommendations for liver testing were all different, yet the class of drugs’ effect on the liver is the same.
Another article states:
Two liver enzymes in particular (alanine aminotransferase or ALT, and aspartate aminotransferase or AST) may be mildly elevated, but it is safe to continue treatment unless they rise by three times the upper limit of normal.
I will continue to research and ask questions! Here were my results in question:
More to come!