Benefits of Statins Outweigh Diabetes Risk

Patients with a risk factor for diabetes are more likely than others to develop the disease when taking Statin, a popular cholesterol-lowering drug. An analysis published Thursday in the medical journal Lancet suggests that the benefits of Statin in preventing heart disease still outweighs the risk.

Statins are proven to lower heart attacks and strokes. But several studies have shown that some people are at a slightly higher risk of developing diabetes when on statins: nearly 9.9 percent, compared to 6.4 percent for those not on statins. The Food and Drug Administration required statin makers in April to add warnings on labels, cautioning consumers that it can raise blood sugar levels.

According to a 2011 statistics by IMS Health, it was noted that cholesterol regulators were the third biggest class of drugs sold that year, with sales skyrocketing worldwide.

This new study delved into findings from a 2008 clinical trial involving nearly 18,000 adults without heart disease or high cholesterol, but with high levels of artery-damaging inflammation. On conducting the trial, researchers noticed a small increased diabetes risk among people who took rosuvastatin (Crestor). The study highlights the fact that extra diabetes cases occurred in certain statin users. They were on the verge of suffering from diabetes because of being obese, having elevated blood sugar levels or being resistant to the hormone insulin.

The study was funded by Astra Zeneca, the maker of Crestor. It saw 134 heart attacks, strokes or deaths were estimated to have been prevented in the high-risk group, with 54 new cases of diabetes being diagnosed. In the low-risk group, 86 heart attacks, strokes or deaths were prevented, with no new cases of diabetes.

"When we focus only on the risk (of diabetes) we may be doing a disservice to our patients," said lead author Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "As it turns out for this data, the hazard of being on a statin is limited almost entirely to those well on their way to getting diabetes."

Some health experts don't agree with the new findings, stating that too many physicians prescribe statins anyway. About one in four Americans over age 45 takes the drug statin, according to the National Center for Health Statistic.

Physician Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute in San Diego, said, "prescribing statins to people who don't have heart disease is still a big issue, despite what this paper says. Per 100 people you have two heart attacks less and one increase in diabetes. They're trying to say it benefits more than it harms. But the benefit is so small. The patient doesn't know this might make their protection for heart attack marginally better but it also could backfire by inducing diabetes."

Dr. Ridker concurred, "Our hope in these data is to better inform discussions between physicians and patients who are considering using statins."