Statins May Raise Diabetes Risk in Older Women
Statins May Raise Diabetes Risk in Older Women
Jan. 9, 2012 -- Use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may be associated with an increased risk of diabetes in middle-aged and older women, a new study suggests.
Experts say the evidence as a whole suggests that the risks are slight and that for most women who take statins, the benefits for preventing heart attack and stroke outweigh those risks.
Researchers analyzed data on nearly 154,000 women followed for an average of seven years.
Women who reported taking a statin such as Lipitor, Pravachol, Zocor, or other statin drugs were almost 50% more likely to report developing type 2 diabetes than women who did not take statins, according to study researcher Yunsheng Ma, MD, PhD, MPH, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Cholesterol 101: What Your Levels Mean
Experts say the evidence as a whole suggests that the risks are slight and that for most women who take statins, the benefits for preventing heart attack and stroke outweigh those risks.
Researchers analyzed data on nearly 154,000 women followed for an average of seven years.
Women who reported taking a statin such as Lipitor, Pravachol, Zocor, or other statin drugs were almost 50% more likely to report developing type 2 diabetes than women who did not take statins, according to study researcher Yunsheng Ma, MD, PhD, MPH, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Cholesterol 101: What Your Levels Mean