Some people who take the cholesterol-lowering drugs, statins, may face a small increased risk of developing diabetes, researchers warned today.
The Canadian research links particular kinds of statins to risk of diabetes. One kind was linked with a 22% increased risk – while others were linked to slightly reduced odds of developing the disease.
One possibility is that people who take statins are less concerned to maintain a healthy lifestyle than others.
But researchers said it was possible there were also direct biological causes.
Writing in The BMJ , the researchers report a study of 1.5 million people in Ontario, Canada, all over the age of 66 and all were taking statins.
The researchers only compared people taking statins – potentially eliminating the effect on lifestyle of taking the drugs.
All the kinds of statin were compared with the drug pravastatin as other research has suggested this might help prevent diabetes. The researchers say their findings suggest that this drug might continue to be a better choice than other kinds of statin.
British experts said statin users should not be worried about the findings.
Maureen Talbot, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "Statins are taken safely by millions in the UK and protect those at high risk of developing coronary heart disease.
"Although this study suggests an increased risk of older people developing diabetes when taking certain statins, other risk factors like being overweight, family history and ethnicity may have played their part.
"There are benefits and risks with all medicines so if you’re worried, discuss your concerns with your GP."
Aleesa A Carter et al. Risk of incident diabetes among patients treated with statins: population based study. BMJ 24 May 2013;346:f2610 doi: 10.1136/bmj.f2610
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