Table 1.

Side effects associated with statin intake and their frequency adapted from Grundy et al. (2019) [13].

Statin-Associated Side Effects (SASE)	Frequency
Statin-Associated Muscle Symptom (SAMS)
-Myalgia: feeling of weakness or symmetrical soreness in proximal muscles (normal CK)	Infrequent (1–5%) in RCTs; frequent (5–10%) in observational studies and in clinical practice
-Myopathy: unexplained muscle pain or weakness or both	Rare
-Rhabdomyolysis: Severe form of myopathy requiring hospitalization and associated with renal failure and myoglobinuria (CK > 40 ULN)	Rare
-Statin-associated autoimmune myopathy: myopathy characterized by the presence of anti-HMGCoAR antibodies and incomplete resolution of pain symptoms	Rare
New onset diabetes mellitus	It depends on population. Frequency increases in the presence of diabetes mellitus risk factors, such as BMI ≥ 30, fasting blood glucose ≥ 100, metabolic syndrome, HbA1c ≥ 6%
Hepatic injury
-Increase of transaminases 3xULN	Infrequent
-Liver failure	Rare
Central nervous system
-Cognitive deterioration	Rare
Cancer	No clear association
Kidney disease	No clear association
Cataract	No clear association
Tendon rupture	No clear association
Haemorrhagic stroke	No clear association
Interstitial lung disease	No clear association
Hypogonadism	No clear association

Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index, CK = creatine kinase, HbA1c = glycosylated hemoglobin, HMGCoAR = 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaryl-CoA Reductase, RCTs = randomized controlled trials, ULN = upper limits of normal.