Cholesterol-lowering statins-the world’s most frequently taken drugs-increase the risk of diabetes. The drugs raise the risk by 22 per cent, which equates to one extra case of diabetes in every 160 patients.
All of the major statin drugs-including atorvastatin, rosuvastatin and simvastatin-increase the risk for type II diabetes, say researchers from the University of Turku in Finland.
A less powerful statin, prevastatin, might not carry the same risk, and could be preferred by doctors, the researchers say. Doctors prescribing any of the three more powerful statins that were analysed need to consider the possibility of diabetes.
(Source: British Medical Journal, 2013; 346: f2610).
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