Re: More data on diabetes risk with statins


"Ozgirl" <are_we_there_yet@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:8vkkknFhmkU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.theheart.org/article/1203383.do?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=20110331_EN_Heartwire

"San Francisco - A new analysis of three major trials with atorvastatin
(Lipitor, Pfizer) has suggested that the risk of new-onset diabetes with
statins appears to be dose dependent and related to the strength of
cholesterol lowering achieved with the statin-ie, the more powerful the
statin, the higher the risk of diabetes [1].

But the authors, as well as other experts, stress that the benefits of
statin treatment still clearly outweigh the risks in patients with
coronary or cerebrovascular disease.

This latest analysis, published in the April 5, 2011 issue of the Journal
of the American College of Cardiology, was conducted by a team led by Dr
David Waters (San Francisco General Hospital, CA).

He explained to heartwire that last year's meta-analysis of statin studies
showed a small increase (HR 1.09) in new-onset diabetes in patients taking
statins vs those on placebo. But other clinical predictors were not
examined, and only one of the 13 trials in this analysis involved
atorvastatin, compared with six with pravastatin and three with
rosuvastatin (Crestor, AstraZeneca).

Waters et al wanted to look at the risk of diabetes specifically with
atorvastatin, and they did this with data from three large studies-TNT
(comparing 80 mg and 10 mg/day of atorvastatin in patients with stable
coronary disease), IDEAL (atorvastatin 80 mg vs simvastatin 20 mg/day in
post-MI patients) and SPARCL (atorvastatin 80 mg/day vs placebo in
patients with a recent stroke or transient ischemic attack).

Results showed that atorvastatin 80 mg was associated with an increased
risk of new-onset diabetes compared with placebo in the SPARCL study, and
in the other two trials atorvastatin 80 mg was associated with a trend
toward more diabetes than lower doses of either atorvastatin or
simvastatin."

There's a bit of a "duh" factor here.

"But he noted that they could also predict which patients would develop
diabetes from traditional risk factors-fasting blood sugar, body-mass
index, hypertension, and elevated triglycerides. "If patients had all four
of these risk factors, they had a 25% risk of developing diabetes. If they
had none of these risks factors, their risk was just 2%. That is not
surprising, as we know these factors predict new onset diabetes.""

How very interesting! Especially since I learned that they raise BG.


.

Relevant Pages

  • More data on diabetes risk with statins
    ... "San Francisco - A new analysis of three major trials with atorvastatin has suggested that the risk of new-onset diabetes with statins appears to be dose dependent and related to the strength of cholesterol lowering achieved with the statin-ie, the more powerful the statin, the higher the risk of diabetes. ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
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  • Re: Advice on Statins needed
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