A largely ignored VA study by the popular media and, it appears, the medical establishment, indicates something that heretofore was unknown: those otherwise healthy individuals who were prescribed statin drugs for CVD (heart disease) prevention had an 87% increased risk for developing new-onset diabetes over a 10 year period. Wow. These same people also had a markedly higher risk of becoming obese as well as developing diabetes-associated complications.
This was a retrospective case-matched study of some 26,000 military veterans (conducted by Ishak Mansi, MD) but it is not the first study to suggest a link between long-term statin use and higher odds of becoming a full-blown diabetic. (published in the Lancet in 2010...for those who don't know, the Lancet is a premier, world-renowned British medical journal). This VA study is the first, however, to show the correlation in people who were free of frank heart disease and becoming diabetic.
These are Dr. Mansi's words:
“We expected to find an association (between statins and developing diabetes),
since it has been shown in other studies of sicker populations. But we
did not expect an odds ratio of 1.87 in our healthy population. Even more notable was the 2.5-fold increase in risk of diabetes with complications."
Dr. Mansi believes that lifestyle changes are a much better than taking statins for CVD prevention. I totally agree. There are many things that can be done in order to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease: exercise, eating habits changes and high quality whole food, organic nutritional supplements are among the most important. That is what I both teach and offer to those who are interested in NOT developing diabetes in order to stay healthy!
Dr. Esther
drkollars@gmail.com
fixdhealthcare.com
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