Statins might mess with your cells' energy, block important chemicals, harden arteries, and reduce a key vitamin—leading to side effects in different parts of the body.

Statins are drugs that lower cholesterol by blocking a key enzyme in the liver, and doctors use them to help prevent heart disease — but they can cause side effects that might be worse than the benefits for some people.

Statins might protect heart muscle during low-oxygen events like heart attacks by turning on certain cell survival pathways and helping cells use energy better — and this could happen even if they don’t lower cholesterol.

Taking statins might reduce how well omega-3s protect your heart and could make your body less sensitive to insulin, which might hurt your heart and metabolism in some people.

For people who are supposed to take statins, the good stuff — like avoiding heart attacks and strokes — far outweighs the possible downsides, like muscle aches or other side effects.

Taking statins to lower your 'bad' cholesterol by a small amount can cut your chance of having a heart attack by nearly half—even if you're not at high risk for heart disease yet.