Small Diabetes Risk Is Not A Reason To Stop Taking Statins

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Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Statins;  Heart Disease;  Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 21 Feb 2010 - 0:00 PST

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Patients on statins may have a slight increased risk of developing diabetes, according to new research published The Lancet . The authors examined data from a number of sources to resolve doubts around the issue following results from other studies.

Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, who commented on the study, said:

"It is well established that people with, or at high risk of, heart disease benefit from taking statins. However, some studies have shown that statins may increase the risk of developing diabetes, whilst other studies have shown a reduced risk.

"This analysis, which looks at the combined data from several statin trials, suggests that statins do indeed increase the risk of developing diabetes, particularly in the elderly, but by a very small amount.

"People with, or at high risk of, heart disease, should continue to take statins because, for them, the benefits of statins far outweigh this small risk. However, people at low risk of heart disease who are tempted to take statins to prevent heart disease should be aware that this risk exists. More research is needed to confirm this association and understand its implications for use of statins in people at low risk of developing heart disease."

'Statins and the risk of incident diabetes: a collaborative meta-analysis of randomised statin trials'
Professor N. Sattar
published in The LancetVol. 375

Source
The British Heart Foundation

Edited by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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