Statins Quash Benefits of Exercise

Statins are good; they have been shown to prevent heart disease. Exercise is good, it has also been shown to prevent heart disease, but for some people, statins and exercise add up to less than the sum of their parts. Researchers at the University of Missouri have found that simvastatin, a generic type of statin previously sold under the brand name “Zocor,” hinders the positive effects of exercise for obese and overweight adults. True. A U of Missouri news release reports that researchers at the school measured cardiorespiratory fitness in 37 obese people ages 25-59 with low fitness levels. The participants followed the same exercise regimen for 12 weeks; 18 of the 37 people also took 40 mg of simvastatin daily. The researchers found that participants in the exercise-only group increased their cardiorespiratory fitness by an average of 10 percent compared to a 1.5 percent increase among participants also prescribed statins. Wait, there’s more: skeletal muscle mitochondrial content, the site where muscle cells turn oxygen into energy, decreased by 4.5 percent in the group taking statins while the exercise-only group had a 13 percent increase, a normal response following exercise training. Read more from U of Missouri.