YOU Docs Daily
Cholesterol Medication May Raise Diabetes Risk
Worried about diabetes? Statin takers: Listen up. A couple of weeks ago, we YOU Docs wrote a column about the terrific health benefits of cholesterol-controlling statin drugs, which make them great multitasking cholesterol managers. Statins now have so many positive side effects that some doctors joke about "putting them in the water supply." Among the benefits: protection against Alzheimer's, cataracts, prostate cancer, blood clots in your lungs and legs, and -- a biggie -- dying from pretty much any infectious disease. That's in addition to doing its primary job very well: preventing heart attacks and strokes.
So the cosmos must have had a good laugh when within 24 hours of publishing that column another statin study hit the medical news -- this time, announcing a not-so-good side effect: Women over 50 who take statins for years to control cholesterol are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes than women who don't. This is the fourth study to spot an increased diabetes risk among all statin users. Yep, men too. Medically, that's a wrap. Wondering if you're at risk of developing diabetes? Take our diabetes assessment.
Why do statins encourage diabetes? Figuring that out is next and, ideally, will lead to a fix. Meanwhile, for most statin takers, the benefits still far outweigh the risks -- something the new study emphasized upfront. Are your cholesterol medications safe to take? Find out.
That said, if you take a statin (a startling 25% of Americans over 45 now do), keep your antennae up for early diabetes symptoms: feeling off-the-hook thirsty, hungry, or tired; constantly hitting the bathroom; developing blurred vision; and/or frequent infections. Not likely, but . . .
And next time you have a checkup, get a test for type 2 diabetes.
