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Intensive statin therapy may increase diabetes risk

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Following unhealthy cholesterol test results, many individuals are prescribed statin medications by their doctors. However, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Assoction found that higher doses of these medications may actually increase a patient's risk of developing diabetes.

The University of Galsgow researchers arrived at these findings after analyzing the results of five separate previously published studies, which involved a total of more than 32,000 individuals. While intensive-dose statin regimens were shown to increase the risk of diabetes, there was no such association seen in more moderate treatment regimens.

Despite this increase in diabetes risk, intensive-dose statin therapy was shown to reduce a patient's risk of suffering a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack. For this reason, the researchers said that doctors should weigh the benefit of treatment against any potential risk, while keeping an eye out for complications.

"Our findings suggest that clinicians should be vigilant for the development of diabetes in patients receiving intensive statin therapy," the researchers wrote in their report.