Author Topic: Diabetes warning over use of statins: People who take the drugs are at increased risk of developing condition  (Read 2011 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Cincinnatus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,513
This is medical news so I suppose it ought go into the Science category. It also may be of timely interest to some on here who take statins, including me, atorvastatin.

People taking statins face an increased risk of developing diabetes, warn researchers.

They found a 10 per cent extra risk linked to taking simvastatin – the most commonly prescribed anti-cholesterol drug – which rose to 22 per cent for those taking atorvastatin.
[aw, sh*t. Lol]

Previous research into a suspected link with statins found a 9 per cent rise in the chance of patients developing diabetes, but the new study looked at specific brands of drug.

The study involved 1.5 million people in Ontario, Canada, and the statins involved were fluvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin, atorvastatin and rosuvastatin.

Researchers identified 471,250 patients with no history of diabetes and who were newly treated with a statin, just over half were women and all were at least 66 years old.

Statin therapy was started between 1997 and 2010 and individuals were followed for a maximum of five years following the initiation of statins, whichever came first. The Statins included in the study were: fluvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin, atorvastatin and rosuvastatin.

The research used pravastatin-treated patients as the comparison group as this has been shown to have favourable effects on newly diagnosed diabetes in animal models and clinical trials.

The overall risk of developing diabetes was low but this risk was increased among some patients taking statins.

The study found between 162 and 407 patients would have to be treated with the various statins for one extra patient to develop diabetes.

Patients treated with atorvastatin had a 22 per cent increased risk of new-onset diabetes, rosuvastatin an 18 per cent increased risk and simvastatin a 10 per cent increased risk, relative to pravastatin.

In contrast, patients treated with fluvastatin were at a five per cent lower risk and lovastatin a one per cent decreased risk.

The findings also suggest older patients are at an increased risk regardless of dose for atorvastatin and simvastatin or whether therapy is used for prevention in people thought likely to develop heart disease or to stop it worsening.

The researchers say several factors may explain the increased risk of new-onset diabetes among patients receiving certain statins including impaired insulin secretion and inhibited insulin release.

The researchers said doctors should consider risk when prescribing statin therapy and they may want to switch patients to a ‘low-risk’ type.

Experts say the absolute risk of diabetes is low - far lower than the benefits of statins in cutting heart attacks and deaths.

More than eight million adults take statins, with most taking 20-40 mg of simvastatin a day. They are the most widely prescribed drugs in the UK, with about 61 million prescriptions in England alone in 2011.

Maureen Talbot, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: 'Statins are taken safely by millions in the UK and protect those at high risk of developing coronary heart disease.

‘Although this study suggests an increased risk of older people developing diabetes when taking certain statins, other risk factors like being overweight, family history and ethnicity may have played their part.

‘There are benefits and risks with all medicines so if you’re worried, discuss your concerns with your GP. In the meantime, getting plenty of exercise and eating healthily will reduce your risk of developing both diabetes and coronary heart disease.'


One thing I did not see addressed was whether statins would aggravate an already existing diabetes condition, though maybe Rapunzel could speak to that since she seems to be quite knowledgeable about things having to do with medicine.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2329834/Diabetes-warning-use-statins-People-drugs-increased-risk-developing-condition.html
We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid ~~ Samuel Adams

Online DCPatriot

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 45,793
  • Gender: Male
  • "...and the winning number is...not yours!
LOL!

I can't believe this.  Lipitor has been hailed as a very good drug to keep your arteries from clogging.  Now it's supposed to be bad for you.

....like coconut oil in popcorn being banned at movie theaters years ago...and now we find "it's good for you!"


The economy sucks and old people aren't dying fast enough to suit health insurance companies and the Social Security Administration.

2 + 2 - 4.
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

Offline Atomic Cow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,221
  • Gender: Male
  • High Yield Minion
I have taken nearly every single statin on the market and all but one made be extremely ill.

Atorvastatin / Lipitor made me ill within days.  I could barely move my arms and legs hurt so bad.

Simvastatin/Zocar was fine for a few months, but then the same thing happened.

Crestor / Rosuvastatin took about two weeks to make me ill.

Fluvastatin/Lescol caused all kinds of stomach problems, and my insurance wouldn't cover it.

About the only common ones I have not tried are Lovastatin  and Mevastatin.

So far, Pravastatin hasn't made me ill, although @ times my arms and legs do still hurt but I can live with it.
"...And these atomic bombs which science burst upon the world that night were strange, even to the men who used them."  H. G. Wells, The World Set Free, 1914

"The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections." -Lord Acton

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
I took statins once for six months and ended up with pain in my hips so bad I couldn't even sleep at night, then ended with horrid body pain...... I stopped the statins because they have a reputation of causing joint pain and within a month was back to normal and pain-free, I now take plant sterols (recommended by Dr. Oz) to control my cholesterol... they work just fine and no pain.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
LOL!

I can't believe this.  Lipitor has been hailed as a very good drug to keep your arteries from clogging.  Now it's supposed to be bad for you.

....like coconut oil in popcorn being banned at movie theaters years ago...and now we find "it's good for you!"


The economy sucks and old people aren't dying fast enough to suit health insurance companies and the Social Security Administration.

2 + 2 - 4.

BTW DC Swanson's Vitamins (online) has the best price on Coconut oil.......
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
and.. BTW ..... scientitists are finding C-reactive protein (CRP) may be a better predictor of  heart attack risk than lipids.  There is also a relationship between too-low lipids and depression. 

BTW for a while we used to purchase Fish Oil at Costco... taking it my husbands lipids dropped to 69 (yes SIXTY NINE), he actually had to start eating eggs for breakfast every morning while he worked to get his cholesterol up to a more normal range.    Later I read that for some reason the Costco fish oil is (or was)  so "rich" that you do have to watch it doesn't over-correct your cholesterol levels.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Online DCPatriot

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 45,793
  • Gender: Male
  • "...and the winning number is...not yours!
and.. BTW ..... scientitists are finding C-reactive protein (CRP) may be a better predictor of  heart attack risk than lipids.  There is also a relationship between too-low lipids and depression. 

BTW for a while we used to purchase Fish Oil at Costco... taking it my husbands lipids dropped to 69 (yes SIXTY NINE), he actually had to start eating eggs for breakfast every morning while he worked to get his cholesterol up to a more normal range.    Later I read that for some reason the Costco fish oil is (or was)  so "rich" that you do have to watch it doesn't over-correct your cholesterol levels.

Thanks for the info on the fish oil.....was going to COSTCO tomorrow morning and will definitely pick some up.
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

Offline massadvj

  • Editorial Advisor
  • *****
  • Posts: 13,327
  • Gender: Male
I have been taking Simvastatin (20mg/day) for several years.  I've been having some hip pains recently and had not connected that to my Simvastatin regimen.  So, thanks, Rap, for making that connection.  I will definitely look into it.  Before I started taking Simvastatin I was self-medicating with red yeast rice, which is the organic compound from which the statin drugs are derived.  Maybe I will just go back to that, along with fish oil and niacin.

As for the diabetes risk, a lot of the same factors that would cause someone to take statin drugs would also lead to diabetes, so I am skeptical that the statin drugs led to increased diabetes risk.  It seems more likely that there were other common variables involved.  People with high cholesterol are also more likely to have many of the risk factors for diabetes.  I am certain the researchers controlled for a lot of that, but the multicollinearity between heart disease and diabetes is so high, it seems to me that the researchers could easily miss a variable that would account for something as small as a 10-20 percent increased risk factor.


Offline EC

  • Shanghaied Editor
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 23,804
  • Gender: Male
  • Cats rule. Dogs drool.
Seconding the fish oil - it works amazingly well. Got a HDLP level of 72, and I cook with butter mostly.

I prefer salmon oil. Easier to digest.
The universe doesn't hate you. Unless your name is Tsutomu Yamaguchi

Avatar courtesy of Oceander

I've got a website now: Smoke and Ink

Offline Rapunzel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 71,613
  • Gender: Female
Krill oil is excellent source of Omega 3'  One reason for so many of these health issues is our diets are too high in Omega 6 and too low in Omega3'  One reason for this is beef, pork, chickens and even farm raised fish are fed a corn-based diet while in nature the consumed foods that increased their Omega3 levels... corn increases Omega 6'   anyone who takes a statin must take coq10 with it.  Both should be taken at bedtime because the liver does its work in the body at night while we are sleeping..the less time you spend sleeping at night the less time your liver has to rejuvenate.

And one last thing.. mass is right.  I work for a doctor and just about every DM2 patient we have and has high cholesterol, many have kidney issues, high blood pressure and joint pains and are on a plethora of medications.  Oh and are either obese or even morbidly obese.
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776