THURSDAY, March 21, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Individuals using statins may be at higher risk for hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and eventually type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online March 5 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Fariba Ahmadizar, Ph.D., from the Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, and colleagues used data from the prospective population-based Rotterdam Study to identify 9,535 individuals free from diabetes at baseline (mean age, 64.3 years; 41.7 percent male) who were evaluated between 1997 and 2012.
The researchers found that in a fully adjusted model, baseline use of statins was associated with higher concentrations of serum fasting insulin and insulin resistance compared with never users of statins. A 38 percent higher risk for incident type 2 diabetes was seen with ever use of statins (hazard ratio, 1.38). This risk was stronger among patients with impaired glucose homeostasis and in overweight/obese individuals.
“Rigorous preventive strategies such as glucose control and weight reduction in patients when initiating statin therapy might help minimize the risk of diabetes,” the authors write.
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