New study finds millions more will get diabetes due to taking statins

It’s the basic rule of medicine: “First do no harm.”

So when the news that statin drugs appear to be causing diabetes started coming out years ago, you would think that experts would start screaming, “Someone hit the brakes!”

But it’s been just the opposite.

And now, a shocking new study from Finland has put a number on that risk, saying that taking statins, drugs like Lipitor and Crestor, will up your chance of developing type 2 diabetes by a whopping 46 percent.

Think about it – close to 50 percent of the millions of people taking these drugs every day will have diabetes as a result.

But there’s something else about the statin/diabetes connection that you probably haven’t heard.

And it could make the difference between a lifetime of popping other risky meds – that is, ones for diabetes –or not.

The Lipitor connection

When news this urgent comes out, the “expert” response is very predictable. After all, statin drugs are the biggest pharma cash cow ever.

So it’s not surprising to hear a doctor from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine chime right in with “People who are taking statins should keep taking statins,” because “the risk is outweighed by that benefit.”

But there’s really no way anyone can say that. Because the list of risks for these drugs keeps getting longer all the time. And the benefit remains questionable at best.

And you can now add to the top of that list this just-out study from Finland.

The researchers looked at almost 9,000 men – ones who didn’t have diabetes at the start – but who were taking a statin drug. And they also adjusted the numbers for family history of diabetes, weight, and other drugs they were taking, as well as their activity level.

As I said, the final numbers were shocking. That 46 percent increase was said to be the “largest” diabetes risk seen so far with statins.

The research also uncovered two of the reasons why. Not only do statin drugs decrease insulin production, but they also throw the natural way your body processes insulin out of whack. It’s a lose-lose situation, with diabetes as the likely result.

Now, before doctors with Big Pharma ties start coming out of the woodwork giving interviews and dismissing this study, you need to know the other pieces to this puzzle.

It turns out that cholesterol actually protects us against getting diabetes! So it makes perfect sense that artificially lowering it can have just the opposite effect.

That fact was just reported in another new study, this one from the Netherlands. It found that those who have a genetic tendency for high cholesterol have a 38 percent lower risk of becoming diabetic.

It’s also known that statins have a diabolical ability to rob your body of two very valuable nutrients – ones that are vital in maintaining normal blood-sugar levels.

One is vitamin D. In order for your body to convert sunlight to vitamin D, you need proper levels of cholesterol. The next is CoQ10, something that plays a very important job in keeping blood glucose levels stable.

And it’s well known by now that Lipitor and all the other statins deplete CoQ10 levels.

I’m sure that for the millions of diabetics, ones whose diabetes was caused by these drugs, all this news may seem a day late and a dollar short.

There is, however, something good to (finally!) report.

Because it’s possible that if you’ve become diabetic while taking a statin, you just might be able to reverse it over time.

But first, you’ll have to ditch the Lipitor…and all the other statin drugs out there. And do it hopefully before you find yourself with an Rx for another kind of risky med – a diabetes drug.

Sources:

“Largest risk for diabetes with statins yet seen, in new study” Liam Davenport, March 4, 2015, Medscape, Medscape.com

“High cholesterol LOWERS the risk of diabetes: New study reveals why taking statins may be harmful” Jenny Hope, March 10, 2015, The Daily Mail, dailymail.co.uk