Statin May Be Keeping You Up at Night
November 9th, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Could a drug you take to lower your cholesterol be keeping you up at night? Maybe ⦠reports researchers who explored the link between cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins and sleep quality.
Their study of more than 1,000 Men’s healthy people finds one type of statin does, indeed, cause significantly worse sleep quality than another type of statin.
Specifically, people taking simvastatin (Zocor) had more sleep problems than those taking pravastatin (Pravachol).
The difference appears to lie in the way the two drugs are absorbed by the body. While pravastatin is soluble only in water, simvastatin is soluble in fat, and that allows the drug to more readily penetrate the cells and travel across the blood-brain barrier. Once inside the brain, the drug can disrupt nerve cells, because they are surrounded by a fatty material called myelin.
Sleep wasnât the only thing affected by simvastatin either. People who reported worsening sleep quality while on the drug were also more likely to score poorly on tests to measure aggression.
âPatients taking simvastatin who are having sleep problems should consult with their doctor,â study author Beatrice Golomb, M.D., from the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine, was quoted as saying.
While not everyone who takes simvastatin will be affected by poor sleep, she notes, âSleep deprivation is a major problem in a minor number of people.â
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SOURCE: Presented at the American Heart Associationâs Scientific Sessions 2007, Nov. 7, 2007