Medical News You Can Use: Statins Increase Diabetes In White Males

Statins Increase Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes By 46%

Taking statins significantly increases the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. According to a Finnish study published in “Diabetologia,” the risk is 46% higher.

In their study, researchers from the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital included 8,850 men aged from 45 to 73, who had not been diagnosed with diabetes at the beginning of the study. During the observational period of almost six years, 635 participants developed type 2 diabetes.

Following adjustment for influencing factors, such as age, BMI and physical activity, it showed that the use of statins increased the risk of developing diabetes by 46%. The higher the dose of the drug taken, the more the likelihood increased.

More detailed analyses showed that insulin sensitivity was decreased by 24% and insulin secretion by 12%. The decreases were dose-dependent. Both values were likely to be directly associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes, said the authors.

The authors emphasized that in contrast to other studies, their study not only included people at high risk of cardiovascular diseases. Since the participants were all exclusively Caucasian men, further research in women, respectively people of other ethnic origins, should be included, said the researchers.