How Will New Guidelines Impact Crestor Side Effects?

Morris, ILThanks in part to new recommendations and guidelines by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, doctors and cardiologists are facing a sea change in how they approach heart disease from the context of prevention. The result, however, appears to be a boon for manufacturers of statin medications such as Crestor. In sum, they’re going to be selling a lot more of them, to more patients. The unknown remains the long-term impact. Will we see more incidents of adverse reactions such as Crestor side effects?

The inference is certainly there. According to The Herald News (Joliet, Illinois; 11/20/13), the new guidelines radically alter a long-held formula that based cardiovascular risk on levels of co-called “bad” LDL cholesterol - the kind that contributes to the greatest degree to the formation of plaque on arterial walls. When such plaque breaks away, the result can be a stroke or heart attack. If a patient’s cholesterol levels were too far out of whack, statins such as Crestor are often prescribed in concert with other cholesterol-lowering drugs.

That’s all about to change with the new guidelines. And statins, already a huge seller in the US, are about to get even bigger in scope, reach and sales overall.

“Basically, recommendations of statins used to be number-driven,” said Cardiologist Dr. Syed Ahmed of Morris Hospital Cardiovascular Specialists, in comments published in The Herald News. “The new guidelines are event-driven. This is a whole scenario change - a more aggressive one. They’re coming on pretty hard. I think it changes the way I and all medical doctors will practice.”

Doctors will now be applying a formula that takes into account blood pressure, diagnosis of diabetes, smoking, cholesterol numbers and age. The expectation is that patients will be put on statins sooner and in greater numbers, while at the same time dispensing with other cholesterol-lowering drugs oft times prescribed along with statins.

Crestor is already one of the most popular statins in the country, and one of the most potent. It’s easily one of the go-to statins already. With the updated guidelines, that status is most assuredly about to expand. But what of Crestor issues?

Every medication carries side effects, and Crestor is no different. Some Crestor issues are more common, such as joint pain. Others are less common but prevalent nonetheless, such as Crestor diabetes. Some statins have been known to trigger the onset of diabetes in otherwise healthy Americans, as many a Crestor lawsuit can attest.

A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in January 2012 highlighted the fact that women aged 50 through 79 were 40 percent more likely to face the onset of Type 2 diabetes than women of similar age who did not use statin therapy to control cholesterol.

And now, with the updated guidelines, it’s no longer just about managing cholesterol. The new formula covers a much wider swath.

What of Crestor rhabdoymylosis? Another side effect of Crestor, and extremely rare. Here, muscle tissue breaks down over time and is actually absorbed into the blood. In serious cases, this can prove fatal. While rhabdoymylosis is rare and few cases are reported, the use of Crestor by a much wider population will only serve to exacerbate the incidents of adverse reactions.

According to The Herald News, the new guidelines are also specific about which of the statins to use, as well as the dosage. Crestor is on that list, and is observed as one of the most potent and therefore most effective statins.

With increased use of Crestor, will we see an exponential increase in Crestor side effects? It seems likely, together with courtroom activity as more patients file a Crestor lawsuit after having developed diabetes in spite of a healthy lifestyle overall.

The new guidelines were released mid-November.