Cholesterol drugs raise diabetes risk by 9 percent

Friday, April 23, 2010 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: cholesterol drugs, diabetes, health news

(NaturalNews) A recent report out of the University of Glasgow has revealed that popular cholesterol drugs like Crestor and Lipitor are responsible for increasing user risk of developing diabetes. Published in the journal Lancet, the report quantifies the severity of the side effect for which doctors and researchers have only recently become aware.

The report analyzed 13 different studies about statin drugs, one of which showed a 25 percent increased risk in developing diabetes in those who take AstraZeneca's Crestor. That company funded study and others were aggregated together to arrive at the 9 percent statistic for the entire pool of statin drugs. Over 90,000 patients were evaluated in the various studies.

According to David Preiss, lead researcher of the Lancet study, the benefits gained from taking statin drugs far outweigh their risks. For every 1,000 patients that take a statin drug for a year, one of them develops diabetes while five other avoid heart attack and death. He believes such a statistic validates the safety and effectiveness of statin drugs.

"Even though there is a slight risk more than what we knew before, it's still a reassuring message," he stated in a phone interview with BusinessWeek. "We're not talking a huge risk at all, and what we don't want people to do is take this as a sign to stop taking statin therapy."

In a follow-up editorial to the study, Chris Cannon, a cardiologist from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, suggested that patients taking statin drugs might benefit from using blood-sugar monitoring devices throughout their course of therapy. He believes patients should regularly be evaluated by their doctors to verify that statin drugs are benefitting them and encourages patients to continue using what he called "this life-saving class of drugs".

Despite all their reassurances about the safety of statin drugs, the alleged "life-saving class of drugs" can cause a host of serious negative side effects. In addition to things like nausea, diarrhea, and irritability, statins lead to much more serious problems like liver and kidney failure, nerve damage, amnesia, and the destruction of CoQ10 in the body.

Drug companies rake in more than $34 billion a year from statin drugs so it is no wonder that the damage control brigade is out in full force to defend statins against studies that paint them in a not-so-good light. Educated individuals will continue to supplement with things like cod liver oil that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, non-irradiated cinnamon, and other nutrients that naturally keep cholesterol levels in check.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-16/...

http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/...