Statin Medications Provide Protection, Though can Increase Blood Sugar

More benefits than harm overall.

Larry Greenblatt, MD

In a recent study published in a well-respected medical journal (The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology), scientists took a closer look at statins, a type of medicine used to lower cholesterol, to see if they might make it more likely for some people to get diabetes. Statins are really important because they can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by keeping cholesterol levels down. However, the study found that, in some cases, people taking statins might have a small chance of developing diabetes, especially if they already have high blood sugar levels.

The researchers gathered a lot of information from different studies to see how often this happens. They found out that the chance of getting diabetes from statins is pretty small and it depends on how much statin someone is taking. The study also showed that for people who already have diabetes, statins didn’t make their blood sugar control much worse. This is good news because it means that, for most people, the benefits of taking statins to prevent heart disease are much bigger than the small risk of increasing blood sugar a bit.   

The scientists also noticed that in studies where people took higher doses of statins, there were a bit more cases of diabetes. But they think this might be because in those studies, doctors checked the patients’ blood sugar more often, so they were just finding diabetes more.

In conclusion, the study says that even though there’s a slight chance that statins could lead to diabetes, the chance is small and depends on how much you take. Most importantly, the good that statins do in preventing heart attacks and strokes is far greater than the small risk. So, for people taking statins or thinking about it, this is reassuring news. Statins are still a helpful medicine for many people around the world.

For more details click here.

The original scientific publication can be found here.