statin treatment and diabetes risk
Last reviewed 12/2020
A meta-analysis into the risk of diabetes associated with statin use has been undertaken (1):
- statin therapy was associated with a 9% increased risk for incident diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 1.09; 95% CI 1.02-1.17), with little heterogeneity (I(2)=11%) between trials
- meta-regression showed that risk of development of diabetes with statins was highest in trials with older participants, but neither baseline body-mass index nor change in LDL-cholesterol concentrations accounted for residual variation in risk
- treatment of 255 (95% CI 150-852) patients with statins for 4 years resulted in one extra case of diabetes.
Statin therapy in adult women: risk of diabetes versus cardiovascular benefit
- review of the literature indicates that the cardiovascular benefits of statins appear to outweigh the risk for statin-related diabetes (2)
NICE have stated "..Do not stop statins because of an increase in blood glucose level or HbA1c.."
Reference:
- 1) Sattar N et al. Statins and risk of incident diabetes: a collaborative meta-analysis of randomised statin trials. Lancet. 2010 Feb 27;375(9716):735-42. Epub 2010 Feb 16
- 2) Ma Y et al. Statin therapy and the risk for diabetes among adult women: do the benefits outweigh the risk? Ther Adv Cardiovasc Dis. 2012 Dec 13.
- 3) NICE (July 2014). Lipid modification: cardiovascular risk assessment and the modification of blood lipids for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease