Statin drugs are prescribed for millions of Americans to lower cholesterol. Like all drugs, they have their negative side effects. Yet, in this case, the side effects can be debilitating.

According to a report in a recent issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, statins can increase the risk of damage to the peripheral nerves, causing weakness, numbness and pain in the hands and feet and leading to a condition is known as peripheral neuropathy.

People taking statins were 14 times more likely to develop peripheral neuropathy than people who were not taking statins, according to the Danish study. Supposedly, the overall risk of developing neuropathy is rare, said study author David Gaist, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, in an attempt to defend the use of the drug. Still, he cautioned that "if people who take statins develop neuropathy symptoms, they should talk with their doctor, who may reconsider the use of statins."

For the population-based study, the researchers used a patient registry to identify all of the first-time cases of peripheral neuropathy with no known cause (such as diabetes) in Funen County, Denmark, over a five-year period. Each case was matched to 25 people of the same age and sex with no neuropathy as a control group. The use of statins was then determined for each group.

They identified 166 cases of first-time neuropathy with no known cause. Of those, 35 had a definite diagnosis, 54 were probable cases and 77 were possible cases. Nine of the people with neuropathy had taken statins. They had taken statins for an average of 2.8 years.

For those with a definite diagnosis of neuropathy, the statin users' risk of developing neuropathy was 16 times higher than for the control group. When all cases of neuropathy were taken into account, the statin users' risk of developing neuropathy was four times higher than the control group's risk.

Taking statins for longer periods of time and taking higher doses of them increased the risk of developing neuropathy. Statins lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by blocking the production of a liver enzyme used by the body to make cholesterol.