Statins associated with slightly higher diabetes risk

Taking a statin slightly increases patients' risk of developing diabetes, according to a new meta-analysis.

The analysis included 13 randomized, controlled trials of statins with more than 90,000 participants, of whom more than 4,000 developed diabetes during a mean follow-up of four years. Patients on statins had a 9% increased risk for incident diabetes (odds ratio, 1.09, 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.17) compared to those taking placebo. The diabetes risk was highest in trials with older patients, and controlling for body mass index and change in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol did not eliminate the association between statins and diabetes. The study was published online by The Lancet on Feb. 17.

Study authors were not able to determine the mechanism of the increased risk or exclude a potential confounding factor, such as patients who were not taking statins and suffered cardiovascular events converting to a healthy lifestyle and thereby lowering their diabetes risk. The finding of increased risk merits further study, but should not change practice for patients with moderate or high cardiovascular risk, the study authors concluded.

Treating 255 patients with statins for four years would result in one additional case of diabetes, but based on other trial data, it would also prevent 5.4 major coronary events, the researchers calculated. The potential diabetes risk should be taken into account when considering statin therapy in low-risk patients, the authors said. Clinicians may also want to respond to the results by monitoring the glucose levels of older patients on statins, an accompanying comment suggested.