Study links onset of type 2 diabetes to use of statins
The good news is that a new statin, Pitavastatin, does not interfere with blood sugar levels and can be used by pre-diabetic and diabetic patients.
Data from the Ministry of Health show that 40% of the Brazilian population, or around 60 million people, have high cholesterol, a factor that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Statins are the first indication for treatment in these cases.
Studies have shown that statins help to reduce the fat content in the blood and thus significantly reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases, but their main function is to inhibit the production of cholesterol in the liver (the body's main source of cholesterol) and increase the removal of bad cholesterol from the blood by the liver, thus reducing the level of total cholesterol.
"The benefits of using this type of drug are numerous, but one side effect can significantly affect patients' lives. This is what the study published this year in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology revealed: individuals who use statins may have a higher risk of hyperglycemia, insulin resistance and, eventually, type 2 diabetes," says endocrinologist Dr. Valdinei Garcia.
The study involved 15 years of analysis. People who used statins were compared with those who had never used this category of drugs. The result shows a 38% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes in statin users, in individuals with an increased propensity to develop diabetes.
The central issue is that there are different types of statins: some have been known for a long time, such as simvastatin and atorvastatin. But there are also innovative statins, such as pitavastatin.
"Due to its different molecular structure, pitavastatin does not follow the pattern of other statins in terms of increasing the possibility of developing diabetes, nor does it have other side effects, such as muscle pain, and in the vast majority of cases it is better tolerated by patients," explains Dr. Valdinei.
Pitavastatin is the latest statin available on the Brazilian market. Several studies, most notably the so-called REAL-CAD (2017), have shown that pitavastatin does not interfere with glycemia (blood sugar levels). This characteristic means that it has the potential to be used by both pre-diabetic and diabetic patients. In addition, pitavastatin is seen as a preventive tool, so that people with high cholesterol do not increase their chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body is unable to make proper use of the insulin it produces, or when it doesn't produce enough insulin to control blood glucose levels. Although this disease is often underestimated, it is a serious problem. According to the Ministry of Health, type 2 diabetes increased by 61% in Brazil between 2006 and 2016. The best-known consequences of diabetes are a significant increase in serious cardiovascular events, such as fatal and non-fatal acute myocardial infarction, stroke, vision problems, lower limb problems and kidney disease.