Watch the Dose of Statins – There’s a Very Slight Risk of Diabetes

Statins are widely regarded as one of the safest medications we have – their beneficial actions are proven, and their side-effect profile is good.  Recently they have been cleared of having any carcinogenic effect.  But now a publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows an increased risk of diabetes in people taking high doses of statins for at least one year.  

The meta-analysis reported here was done as a result of an earlier study of rosuvastatin (Crestor®) in over 17,000 subjects where physicians found a slightly raised number of type 2 diabetes cases.  Researchers form St George’s University, London, decided to analyze reported studies comparing the intensity of stain treatment.  There were 5 such studies lasting from 2 to 5 years that compared high versus low-to-moderate treatment doses, encompassing 32,750 participants.

An intensive treatment of 80 mg simvastatin (Zocor®) or atorvastatin (Lipitor®) daily was associated with a 12% increased incidence of diabetes compared with lower doses (10-to-20 mg daily).  At the same time, there was a 22% decreased incidence of cardiovascular events in the higher dosed atorvastatin patients and a 5% reduction for the simvastatin patients compared with those treated with lower doses of these  two statins.

It must be realized that the benefits of statin therapy still outweigh the disadvantages, including this newly-recognized risk. Dr Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic goes so far as to say: “It is notable that despite the increase in the risk of diabetes mellitus, the reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is maintained.  It leads me to believe that the effect is not very clinically relevant.”  So patients shouldn’t feel tempted to lower their statin dose, based on this new information – at least, not without consulting their physician.