Posted on 10/09/2021 4:10:49 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Statin use associated with type 2 diabetes progression
-Doctors prescribe statins to lower cholesterol levels in a person’s blood. -This reduces their chance of developing cardiovascular disease. -Researchers have found associations between statins and decreased insulin sensitivity, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. -In the present study, the team found people with type 2 diabetes who took statins were more likely to have greater disease progression.
In a new study, researchers found a link between statin use and an increased likelihood of type 2 diabetes disease progression.
The research, which appears in the journal JAMA Internal MedicineTrusted Source, gives clinicians more information to ensure that statins are appropriate when prescribed.
Statins
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA)Trusted Source says statins are medications that help lower cholesterol levels in a person’s blood.
If individuals have too much cholesterol in their blood, they have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, or stroke.
People can lower their cholesterol by staying physically active and eating foods low in saturated and trans fats, including fruit and vegetables. However, the FDA points out that for some individuals, genetic factors mean that they may still have too much cholesterol, even if they follow a healthy lifestyle.
According to a review in the journal Medicina Clínica, statins, like all drugs, can have some side effects. However, the side effect rate is so low that the benefits of taking them for someone with cholesterol levels that are too high outweigh the drawbacks.
Nonetheless, researchers want to understand these side effects better to ensure that when a doctor prescribes statins, it is the best option for the patient, and they fully comprehend any potential risks.
Insulin resistance
Researchers have discovered one potential side effect of taking statins is decreased insulin sensitivity, which means that a person is more at risk of type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a condition that causes the level of sugar, or glucose, in the blood to become too high. This occurs because an individual either cannot produce enough insulin or is less sensitive to insulin. Insulin helps cells absorb glucose in a person’s blood.
By not producing enough insulin or having reduced sensitivity to it, a person’s blood sugar levels increase, making them more at risk of cardiovascular disease.
Speaking to Medical News Today, Prof. Ishak Mansi, M.D., of the Department of Medicine and the Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, and the corresponding author of the present study, said that understanding the clinical implications of insulin resistance due to statins was important.
“Prior research has shown statins to be associated with increased insulin resistance. But doctors do not routinely measure ‘insulin resistance’ for their patients. Rather, it is done [in] research and academic circles only, but not in everyday life.”
“Increased insulin resistance may result in less controlled diabetes, [the] escalation of anti-diabetes medications, [or both]. The global diabetes prevalence in 2019 is estimated to be 463 million people, rising to 578 million by 2030.”
“With [an] increasing number of patients diagnosed with diabetes, it is important to examine if the effect of statins on insulin resistance […] translates into any meaningful clinical outcome that may influence patient management,” said Prof Mansi.
If you test your blood sugar daily and administer insulin at least 3 times a day, your CGM may be covered by insurance or Medicare.
Large, retrospective study
To do this, Prof. Mansi and his colleagues developed a large, retrospective study looking at patient health records from the Department of Veterans Affairs between 2003 and 2015.
The selected individuals had to have a type 2 diabetes diagnosis during the study period, be 30 years of age or older, and regularly use the Veterans Affairs health system.
The researchers matched 83,022 people taking statins with an active comparison group of patients. The latter group was either taking a type of heartburn medication, known as an H2 blocker, a proton-pump inhibitor, but not taking statins.
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Increased diabetes progression The researchers found that 55.9% of the patients taking statins had diabetes progression during the study period, compared with 48% in the active comparison group.
The statin users were more likely to begin insulin treatment, have related high blood sugar levels and complications, and have more prescriptions for medications that lower blood sugar levels relative to the active comparator patients.
Prof. Mansi said to MNT that while the association between statin use and diabetes progression was important, it was only one of several elements requiring consideration when prescribing statins.
“[There are] three important precautions in reading our study: no patient should stop taking their statins based on our study, association does not prove causation, and no single study should dictate treatment policy but [rather] all the pieces of evidence together.”
“Current guidelines from several scientific societies recommend statins prescription to patients with diabetes aged 40 to 75 with [low-density lipoprotein] cholesterol ≥70 milligrams per deciliter to prevent cardiovascular diseases from occurring. Statins have been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases.”
“However, our study is very important because it translated findings reported [in] academic studies of increased insulin resistance associated with statin use in research papers into [the] everyday language of patient care — that is, patients on statins may need to escalate their anti-diabetes therapy.”
“Hence, it may alert clinicians that they may need to pay close attention and expect to adjust anti-diabetes medications when they initiate statins. Adjusting anti-diabetes medications is a common practice in managing diabetes.”
Prof. Mansi also stressed that statins could still be a crucial medical intervention.
“Of course, we have to differentiate between using statins for [the] primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases — that is, in patients who never had any cardiovascular disease previously — and those using statins for secondary prevention — those who have pre-existing cardiovascular disease. In the latter group, statins are one of the most important lines of treatment, and their benefits are tremendous.”
Speaking to MNT, Dr. Marina Basina, a clinical professor and diabetes expert at Stanford University, CA, agreed that finding a balance was necessary regarding the risks and benefits of prescribing statins.
“This was a very large study, although retrospective, showing an association but not the causative mechanism of diabetes progression with the use of statins.”
“The information is important in helping clinicians [address the] risk-benefit ratio of the use of the medication with their patients. This risk should be carefully weighed against the significant benefits from multiple randomized and observational trials showing significant beneficial effects of statins in [the] reduction of cardiovascular events and mortality in individuals with diabetes and nondiabetes high risk patients,” said Dr. Basina.
For Dr. Basina, a healthcare professional needs to approach each patient differently depending on their specific situation.
“[A] personalized approach to each patient is important. Clinicians should assess [the] cardiovascular risk factors of each patient, address [the] small risk of diabetes progression and [the] possible need of the escalation of diabetes therapies.”
“But at the same time, it is important to explain to the patient that the benefits of statins in [the] reduction of cardiovascular events and mortality outweigh the risk of diabetes progression.”
“Emphasizing [a] healthy lifestyle with smoking cessation, regular exercise, and healthy diet, is an essential part of the therapy and will help in [the] reduction of the risk of diabetes progression,” added Dr. Basina.
Further Research
For Prof. Mansi, more research is necessary on the benefits and risks of statins for individuals with diabetes.
“We know well about the benefits [of statins], but the harms are much less investigated — despite [the fact] that statins have been in use for [more than] 30 years! Observational data and registries can be an excellent method to examine this topic.”
“Specifically, what [are] the population characteristics that may benefit less from [the] use of statins for primary prevention or get more harm? This type of [study] should be prioritized since diabetes is very common in the [United States] and the world. Hence, answering these questions impact[s] hundreds of millions of patients and cannot be postponed,” said Prof. Mansi.
Prof. Mansi added that funding would also be necessary to understand better some of the side effects of common drugs, such as statins.
“There should be dedicated funding for such research about unintended adverse effects of commonly used medications — not only statins. There is no dedicated funding mechanism for a study like our[s]. I can see many researchers deterred from performing necessary research due to [the] difficulty in obtaining funding,” added Prof. Mansi.
For Dr. Basina, high-quality studies are necessary to help clinicians offer a personalized treatment plan for people with diabetes.
“Further research is needed to tailor [a] patient’s individual needs in balancing cardiovascular benefits with the risk of diabetes. Large scale, randomized controlled trials are needed to answer these questions.”
“In the meantime, it is important to use [a] personalized approach to [an] individual patient’s risk factors, discuss [the] risk-benefit ratio of statin therapy, and [statin therapy’s] significant benefit in the improvement of cardiovascular outcomes, especially in high risk individuals with diabetes,” said Dr. Basina.
Please do more research on statins. They can have many bad effects. I am not giving medical advice I am a RN not a Dr. That being said, everyone that was on a statin in my family is no longer on them.
Thanks. Just ordered 3 brands. Which do you use?
I skip statins when my joints start hurting. It would be nice to find a substitute.
So these should be in on Monday.
Red Yeast Rice Extract 1200mg – Citrinin Free Supplement – Vegetarian 120 Capsules - Arazo Nutrition
Red Yeast Rice 1200mg with CoQ10 & Flush Free Niacin 120 Vegetarian Capsules - Non Irradiated, Citrinin Free,
Puritan’s Pride Red Yeast Rice 600 Mg, 240 Count
Blood pressure medications and statins have been quite successful improving longevity.
ALL statins?
The lipid hypothesis is long since disproven, yet even FReeper devotees happily refill their scrips.
I saw this association years ago. That stated, it should be about another 20 years before the FDA moves to pull statins as a health hazard...
Do you have a citation about the statins? Because the studies I remember showed no reduction in mortality. Does current research show that cholesterol is a good predictor of of heart health?
What about Type I diabetes? I know someone that has been on statin drugs for at least 20 years and suddenly became a Type I diabetic taking 4 shots of insulin a day. Pancreas “died” as the doctor put it.
Published July 7, 2020: Among older US veterans without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at baseline, statin therapy was significantly associated with a lower risk of mortality.
November 14, 2019: Statin discontinuation was associated with a 33% increased risk of admission for cardiovascular event in 75-year-old primary prevention patients.
Shortly thereafter I had double-vision. I went to the ER finally (insisted by my wife). The first doc said “Well, it isn't like the movies. Double vision is rare with a head injury, but we'll check it out”.
They ran all the tests. No brain damage, but the MRI showed a minor stroke had occurred sometime in the last two years. (No recollection of anything odd.)
Even though my collestrial is good some other doc put me on Statins. “Statins should be put in the water like flouride. Every American is so overweight...” (Yeah, I could lose 15 pounds.)
Turns out my eyeglass prescription was out of date. I took the statins for a week.
Perhaps I misread your post, but it seems like you are encouraging someone you have never met, without examination or medical history, to disregard their current medical treatment in favor of your recommendations for a cocktail of items found on Amazon.
They did their own research………
A lot of that happening nowadays. 😳
Practicing medicine without a license is illegal in every state.
I see some here on FR say that Type 2 D is caused by a vanadium deficiency. Is/are there any studies tying statins to vanadium deficiency? Did a quick search and didn’t find any, but vanadium clearly has an effect on cholesterol.
Currently, 50 yo male trying to lower weight and A1C and completed my company's wellness screening:
Meds: Metformin x2 day, Amplodipine and HCT for HBP, Pantoprazole for GERD, Avorostatin at night.
OTC = baby aspirin, Quercetin x2/day, VIT C x2 day, Vit D, 50mg Zinc x1 day
PANCREAS HEALTH
Glucose 138
Hemoglobin A1c 6.5
HEART HEALTH
Triglycerides
361 Total Cholesterol
177
HDL Cholesterol
47
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio
3.8
LDL Cholesterol
82
Non-HDL Cholesterol
130
PHYSICAL MEASURES
Height
5 foot 8 inches
Weight (Dressed)
212.0
Body Mass Index (BMI)
32.2
Waist Size
40 inches
Neck Size
18 inches
BLOOD PRESSURE(10 minute rest)
132/89
140/80
131/84
Any board docs want to tell me what they see? Thanks!
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