Cholesterol-Lowering Drug affects the health benefits of exercise

Statins have been used to lower blood cholesterol level and put a stop to heart disease before it happens. It is also used in other diseases like diabetes, metabolic syndrome and other serious illness. However, a group of scientist from the University of Missouri suggests that they have side effects, which can affect our health.

John Thyfault, an assistant professor at Missouri University said that fitness is the fountain of youth because of what it can do for the body. In order, to have a fit and happy life, you need to maintain your fitness level. However, patients who use statins cannot see any improvement in their fitness level simply because the drug blocks the health benefits of exercise for our body.

The drug is one of the most highly recommended for those with metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Thyfault said that cardiologist should consider the benefits and risks of statins because of the harmful effect that this new information revealed about using it at the same time with exercise.

For the study, there were a total of 37 patients who had a sedentary lifestyle before with ages ranging from 25-59 that has low fitness levels. The participants were put through the same exercise regimen on the MU campus for 12 weeks; 18 of the 37 people also took 40 mg of simvastatin daily.

After the study, hose who took simvastatin on a regular basis did not show any improvement. The other participants who weren’t taking the drug shows an improvement in their cardiorespiratory fitness by an average of 10 percent compared to a 1.5 percent increase among participants also prescribed statins.

Moreover, skeletal muscle mitochondrial content, the site where muscle cells turn oxygen into energy, shrunk by 4.5 percent in the group taking statins, which is different from the results of those who didn’t take the drug, amounting to an 13 percent increase, a normal response following exercise training.