If you take certain medications to improve your heart wellness, you may be putting your wellbeing at risk to other health concerns. This is according to a new study, published in the British Medical Journal, which found that some drugs taken to protect the heart may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, wellness experts still argue that the benefits of statins outweigh any potential risks.
The Canadian researchers studied 1.5 million people over the age of 66 and compared the incidence of diabetes between people taking different statins. They found that powerful statins could increase type 2 diabetes risk by 22% compared with weaker drugs. For every 160 patients treated, Atorvastatin was linked to one extra case of diabetes. Statins work to lower your levels of bad cholesterol in the blood, in order to reduce your chances of a heart attack or stroke. These drugs are commonly prescribed, and all medications come with side-effects, yet the team of researchers from hospitals in Toronto cited recent controversy around the risk of diabetes with different statins.
According to the researchers’ report, ‘We found that patients treated with atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, or simvastatin were at increased risk of new onset diabetes compared with those treated with pravastatin.’ The study authors noted, ‘Clinicians should considers this risk when they are contemplating statin treatment for individual patients,’ as ‘preferential use of pravastatin… might be warranted.’
Professor Risto Huupponen and Professor Jorma Viikari, from the University of Turku, in Finland, commented on the study, noting that ‘the overall benefit of statins still clearly outweighs the potential risk of diabetes.’ However, that is not to say that you should go ahead and take any statin, as the professors asserted that different statins should be targeted at the right patients. ‘The most potent statins, at least in higher doses, should preferably be reserved for patients who do not respond to low-potency treatment, but have a high total risk of cardiovascular disease,’ they said.
Maureen Talbot, from the British Heart Foundation, explained, ‘Statins are taken safely by millions in the UK and protect those at high risk of developing coronary heart disease. Although this study suggests an increased risk of older people developing diabetes when taking certain statins, other risk factors like being overweight, family history and ethnicity may have played their part. There are benefits and risks with all medicines so if you’re worried, discuss your concerns with your GP.’