Muscle problems caused by statins: Can a genetic test reveal your risk?
A mail-order genetic test claims it can identify people at risk of developing muscle pain from taking a cholesterol-lowering statin. Using genetic material from a saliva sample, the test looks for gene variants that affect how statins are transported into the liver. About 25% of people have one of two copies of this variant. But the results apply only to a rare form of statin-induced muscle pain that affects about one in 1,000 people.
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