Study shows that use of statins increases risk of developing diabetes by 46%.

"New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) shows that use of statins is associated with a 46% increase in the risk of developing diabetes, even after adjustment for confounding factors. The study is by Professor Markku Laakso, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital, Finland, and colleagues.

Previous studies have suggested an increased risk (of varying levels) of developing diabetes associated with statin use. However, these studies have had limitations: study populations have been selective especially in statin trials which have included participants at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the risk of diabetes in clinical trials is likely to differ from that in the general population. Very often in previous studies the diagnosis of diabetes has been based on self-reported diabetes or fasting glucose measurement, leading to an underestimation of the actual numbers of incident diabetes cases."

Link to this new information here http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-statins-diabetes.html

Reading the study ......The authors say, "The association of statin use with increased risk of developing diabetes is most likely directly related to statins decreasing both insulin sensitivity and secretion."

and They conclude: "Statin therapy was associated with a 46% increased risk of type 2 diabetes after adjustment for confounding factors, suggesting a higher risk of diabetes in the general population than previously reported."

Of course whether or not you take a statin is between you and your GP. A GP cannot know everything, neither of course can we - but we can research with 'Dr Google' etc and most of us have the capability to be able to do this.

All the best Jan

And some say the side effects of statins are a price worth paying, try telling that to the poor sods who go on to develop diabetes

Is high cholesterol dangerous   not according to this study were the opposite is the case.

Low Cholesterol is Associated With Mortality From Stroke, Heart Disease, and Cancer: The Jichi Medical School Cohort Study

Abstract
Background

We investigated the relationship between low cholesterol and mortality and examined whether that relationship differs with respect to cause of death.

Methods

A community-based prospective cohort study was conducted in 12 rural areas in Japan. The study subjects were 12 334 healthy adults aged 40 to 69 years who underwent a mass screening examination. Serum total cholesterol was measured by an enzymatic method. The outcome was total mortality, by sex and cause of death. Information regarding cause of death was obtained from death certificates, and the average follow-up period was 11.9 years.

Results

As compared with a moderate cholesterol level (4.14–5.17 mmol/L), the age-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of low cholesterol (<4.14 mmol/L) for mortality was 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23–1.79) in men and 1.50 (1.10–2.04) in women. High cholesterol (≥6.21 mmol/L) was not a risk factor. This association was unchanged in analyses that excluded deaths due to liver disease, which yielded age-adjusted HRs of 1.38 (95% CI, 1.13–1.67) in men and 1.49 (1.09–2.04) in women. The multivariate-adjusted HRs and 95% CIs of the lowest cholesterol group for hemorrhagic stroke, heart failure (excluding myocardial infarction), and cancer mortality significantly higher than those of the moderate cholesterol group, for each cause of death.

Conclusions

Low cholesterol was related to high mortality even after excluding deaths due to liver disease from the analysis. High cholesterol was not a risk factor for mortality.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3899519/

Graham, this is a serious question. Statins can lead to diabetes, agreed. However, if you already have diabetes and are put on statins, with a family history of heart disease, would you advise or not ? I was prescribed Atorvastatin about 2 years ago and since then I stopped taking them. Recently, my sister has had open heart surgery at 46 years old as we have a history of heart disease. I find myself in a quandary. My BG levels are good, my cholesterol numbers good, however, are they an insurance policy or the work of the devil ?

mo1905 wrote:Graham, this is a serious question. Statins can lead to diabetes, agreed. However, if you already have diabetes and are put on statins, with a family history of heart disease, would you advise or not ? I was prescribed Atorvastatin about 2 years ago and since then I stopped taking them. Recently, my sister has had open heart surgery at 46 years old as we have a history of heart disease. I find myself in a quandary. My BG levels are good, my cholesterol numbers good, however, are they an insurance policy or the work of the devil ?

Firstly Mo I don't advise but it's my opinion statins are  the work of the devil  , having said that there's no history of heart disease in my family  so I'm not faced with the dilemma you have, at the end of the day it's your choice mate.

Thanks Graham, not an easy choice .

Mo my advice on statins is this. Before taking statins a person should be sent for psychiatric assessment. I am a heart job and I refuse to take them. The most optimistic papers reckon about one man in fifty will benefit from taking statins after five years. No one can say who that men will be, and according to Dr.Malcolm Kendrick the extra life expectancy is measured in months not years. For women over 50 there are no benefits. Against that you have to look at the myriad of serious, sometimes fatal downsides that come with statin use. I suffer from atherosclerosis hence the heart stents. I posted this on the blog a few years ago.

Statins Increase Prevalence of Coronary Calcification by More than 50 Percent!

One of the first words your Doctor usually utters after confirming your new membership of the diabetes club is statins. Whatever your cholesterol levels are it’s almost always too high. You see he gets financial inducement to get you on statins. Now it is a known fact many diabetics die from CVD in fact it’s the biggest killer for members of the betus club. Does he send you back for more tests to check your levels of atherosclerosis ? No is the short answer. Statins are the wonder drugs and most are cheap, cheap is good and atherosclerosis tests ain’t cheap. So let’s say you’re a typical type two, around forty to sixty years of age at diagnosis. There is a more than fifty-fifty chance you are suffering some degree of atherosclerosis, and the statins make it worse, much worse. I’m an atherosclerosis case as reported here in the past, I would not touch a statin with a ten foot pole.

"Statins are the world's most-prescribed class of medications. A staggering one in four Americans over the age of 45 now take cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Pravachol, Mevacor, Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor, and others. A majority of them are taking these drugs for primary prevention of heart attacks and strokes.

However, mounting research suggests this could be a critical mistake.

Most recently, two separate studies have concluded that progression of coronary artery calcification, which is the hallmark of potentially lethal heart disease, is INCREASED with statin drug use.

A new study in the journal Atherosclerosis1 shows that statin use is associated with a 52 percent increased prevalence and extent of calcified coronary plaque compared to non-users. None of the participants in the study – 6,673 in all – had any known coronary artery disease at the time of undergoing coronary CT angiography (CCTA) – a non-invasive method that allows you to see coronary atherosclerotic features, including plaque composition.

Arterial plaque is a hallmark of cardiovascular disease and increases your risk of all-cause mortality, so clearly, anything that increases calcification and stiffening of your arteries is wisely avoided. And statins seem to fall into this category.

These disturbing findings come right on the heels of another study published in the journal Diabetes Care,2 which discovered that type 2 diabetics with advanced atherosclerosis who are frequent statin users have significantly higher amounts of coronary artery calcification compared to less frequent users of the drug.

Furthermore, in a subgroup of participants who initially were not receiving statins, progression of both coronary artery calcification as well as abdominal aortic artery calcification was significantly increased when they began frequent statin use."

The authors concluded that:

"More frequent statin use is associated with accelerated coronary artery calcification in T2DM patients with advanced atherosclerosis."

Link to information http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/10/15/statin-drugs-on-coronary-disease.aspx?e_cid=20121015_DNL_art_1

Well for what it's worth I agree with Graham and Loose. I would take on board any advice re exercise, eating natural fats and not smoking etc. I would not take statins. I am grateful to have a healthy heart again and do not want to mess it up with statins.

Thanks all for the advice, pretty much confirmed what I already thought. Weighing up the pros and cons, hardly worth it.