Statins include drugs such as Atorvastatin, Simvastatin, Pravastatin, Fluvastatin and several others. The report will guide you on the risk of developing severe side-effects on this vital cholesterol-lowering medicine. If you have the mutation the report will further guide therapy. Whereas if you don’t have the mutation, then your inexpensive therapy could save you a lot of money.
People discontinue therapy or skip taking these vital drugs to avoid their side-effects. This would be more harmful. Whereas, with this test result, people at risk can stick to their prescribed medication and dosage, or change them with doctor’s guidance based on the genetic results. Be safe for life!
Science
Genes tested: SLCO1B1
A common genetic mutation affects drug absorption in the liver. This leads to high levels of the medicine circulating in the body, thus damaging muscles. When muscle breaks down, it can cause pain (myalgia, myopathy) and in the long run can even lead to kidney damage due to severe rhabdomyolysis.
References
Ramsey LB et al. 2014, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Carr DF et al. 2013, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Link E et al. 2008, The New England Journal of Medicine
De Keyser CE et al. 2014, Pharmacogenetics and Genomics
Voora D et al. 2009, Journal of the American College of Cardiology
