Statins, these cholesterol-lowering drugs, are known to cause unpleasant side effects, such as muscle cramps and pain.

On Monday, Dr Jimmy Mohamed, health consultant from Europe 1, shared the results of a study suggesting that these inconveniences were overestimated.

Treatments for lowering cholesterol are called statins.

They reduce the risk of cerebrovascular accident (stroke) or infarction, and in particular recurrence.

However, they are also known for their main side effects: the cramps or muscle pain that they cause often leads to the discontinuation of treatment.

However, according to a recent study, these side effects are largely overestimated.

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During this astonishing study, a control group received a placebo, that is to say no treatment, while the second received the famous statins.

The treatments were administered "double blind": neither the patient nor the doctor knew what treatment was being given.

In both groups, the patients had the same cramps and muscle pain whether they received the real medicine or the placebo.

Nocebo effect

This rather disturbing result can have two causes.

People who take cholesterol medications may be a bit older and therefore may have joint or osteoarthritis pain.

These can be confused with the side effect of the treatment.

>> Find Jimmy Mohamed's column in replay and podcast here

The second explanation is undoubtedly the most fascinating.

This would be a so-called "nocebo" effect.

In the case of placebo, if a doctor gives a treatment to his patient in the belief that it will work, his brain will create molecules that may make him a little more efficient.

The nocebo effect would work symmetrically: if the doctor gives you treatment for cholesterol and warns that side effects are likely, they will happen a little more frequently.

Therefore, by insisting too much on the side effects generated by statins, doctors would participate in their arrival.

While some patients will have genuine muscle pain while taking a statin, they can nevertheless be overestimated.

In order to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack caused by cholesterol, perhaps we should persevere with statin treatment.