The risk of diabetes associated with statin drugs

Produced and interviewed by Steven Greer, MD

The statin drug Crestor, made by AstraZeneca, recently received an expanded label indication from the FDA to include patients with normal cholesterol levels. At the same time, new studies indicate that statins increase the risk of diabetes by 9%. For low-heart-risk patients, the risk-benefit analysis might not support statins.

Naveed Sattar, MD PhD, author of the Lancet paper highlighting the diabetes risk, spoke with The HCC. He reviewed his findings and posed some possible biological mechanisms of action to explain how statins could causes diabetes. Other drugs, such as antipsychotics, are well known to cause diabetes.

Update: An article in Arch Int Med found similar results. In a female population studied, use of statins was associated with a 40% increase in diabetes.