Statins may RAISE the chances of diabetes
Published 9 Aug 2016
Statins, which lower the 'bad' form of cholesterol, could increase the risk of diabetes, a study suggests.
Scientists found that people with naturally lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were less likely to develop heart disease.
But they were slightly more vulnerable to type 2 diabetes.
As statins reduce LDL levels they will have the same effect, they believe.
They also found boosting levels of 'good' cholesterol may protect against type 2 diabetes - meaning one day this could prevent or treat the condition.
Lead researcher Dr Michael Holmes, from Oxford University, said: 'What we've shown in this study is that the role played by blood lipid levels in disease is a complex one.
'While the effect of taking LDL cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins may slightly increase a person's risk of developing diabetes this effect is greatly outweighed by their benefits in the form of preventing people from suffering from a life-altering heart attack or stroke.'
Scientists do not know exactly why having lower levels of LDL cholesterol increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.
One theory is that the drugs raise a person's resistance to insulin, the hormone that takes sugar out of the blood.
Another is that the drugs impair the pancreas' ability to secrete insulin.
Dr Holmes said the team also found raising levels of 'good' high-density lipoprotein might protect against type 2 diabetes.
And this may not result in lowering of heart disease risk as observational studies have suggested, he added.
This means drugs that increase HDL cholesterol could be developed to treat and prevent diabetes.
The team analysed large data sets of information about genetic make-up to tease apart the possible effects on heart disease and diabetes risk of LDL and HDL (which is thought to protect against disease).
They also looked at the influence of triglyceride blood fats which are associated with heart disease.
Cases of heart disease were more likely to occur among people with genetic mutations that increased their levels of LDL or triglycerides, the research showed.
But genetic variants that raised either LDL or HDL cholesterol levels, and possibly triglyceride levels, slightly reduced the chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
The findings may help explain why previous studies have shown a modest increase in diabetes risk among patients taking statins.
Because of the proven benefits of statins, clinical guidelines on prescribing the drugs should not change, said the scientists.
Professor Jeremy Pearson, from the British Heart Foundation, which funded the research, said: 'This carefully conducted large-scale genetic study reports several novel and interesting results on the relationships between levels of different blood lipids and the risk of developing heart disease or diabetes.
'One key finding is that patients with naturally lower LDL cholesterol levels, similar to those taking a statin, have a slightly increased risk of diabetes, indicating that the risk is related to LDL levels and not to any separate effect of the statin itself.
The study was published in the journal JAMA Cardiology.
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