Statin use associated with 87% increased risk of diabetes

This study was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine 2015 Apr 28

Study title and authors:
Statins and New-Onset Diabetes Mellitus and Diabetic Complications: A Retrospective Cohort Study of US Healthy Adults.

Mansi I, Frei CR, Wang CP, Mortensen EM
Department of Medicine, VA North Texas Health System, 4500 S. Lancaster Rd #111E, Dallas, TX, USA, Ishak.mansi@va.gov.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25917657

The objective of the study was to examine the association between statin use and new-onset diabetes, diabetic complications, and overweight/obesity in healthy adults. The study lasted 8.5 years and included 3,351 statins users who were matched with 3,351 nonusers.

The study found:
(a) Statin users had a 87% increased risk of developing new-onset diabetes compared to nonusers.
(b) Statin users had a 150% increased risk of developing diabetes with complications compared to nonusers.
(c) Statin users were 14% more likely to be overweight or obese compared to nonusers.

Mansi concluded: "Diabetes, diabetic complications, and overweight/obesity were more commonly diagnosed among statin-users than similar nonusers in a healthy cohort of adults. This study demonstrates that short-term clinical trials might not fully describe the risk/benefit of long-term statin use".