Memorial study finds how statins can cause diabetes

PAWTUCKET – Dr. Charles Eaton, director of the Center for Primary Care and Prevention at Memorial Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, recently published a study that determined statin drugs taken to lower cholesterol can also increase the person’s risk for diabetes and weight gain. However, the study determined that the risks were very small compared with the benefits of lowering cholesterol.

The study – entitled “HMG-coenzyme A reductase inhibition, type 2 diabetes, and bodyweight: evidence from genetic analysis and randomized trials” – was published in Lancet, the world’s leading general medical journal.

Pooling multiple genetic studies – including the Women’s Health Initiative Study, for which Eaton is the principal investigator in Rhode Island – the authors compared whether a participant had zero, one or two copies of a gene (one for each arm of the chromosome) associated with production of cholesterol and the risk of diabetes. Those with two copies of the gene had a much higher risk of diabetes than those with no copies and those with one gene copy were at immediate risk.

The genes studied, besides affecting cholesterol production, also affects body weight and insulin levels, both known to be associated with developing diabetes.

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“This study shows that statin drugs likely cause diabetes but this increased risk is relatively small and the benefits in reducing coronary heart disease far outweigh this risk,” Eaton said of the statins.

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