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Statin use may raise risk for diabetes in postmenopausal women
Culver AL. Arch Intern Med. 2012;doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.625.
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Postmenopausal women using statins appear to be at an increased risk for new-onset diabetes, according to an analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative.
Current evidence links statins with an increased incidence of diabetes, especially among older patients, women and Asians, but postmenopausal women have been underrepresented in previous trials, researchers wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine. To further assess the association between statins and heightened risk for diabetes in this population, the researchers analyzed data from 153,840 women without diabetes (mean age, 63.2 years) enrolled in the WHI.
At baseline, 7.04% of women reported using statins. There were 10,242 new cases of self-reported diabetes during 1,004,466 person-years of follow-up, according to study results. With an HR of 1.71 (95% CI, 1.61-1.83), statin use was associated with an increased risk for diabetes, a finding that persisted after adjustment for potential confounders, such as age, race/ethnicity and BMI (adjusted HR=1.48; 95% CI, 1.38-1.59). Type of statin also did not affect this relationship, and results were similar for women with and without CVD at baseline.
Despite their findings, the researchers said statins address the CV consequences of diabetes, and current American Diabetes Association guidelines for primary and secondary prevention, as well as guidelines for statin use in patients without diabetes, should not change.
“The results of this study imply that statin use conveys an increased risk of new-onset [diabetes mellitus] in postmenopausal women. In keeping with the findings of other studies, our results suggest that statin-induced [diabetes mellitus] is a medication class effect and not related to potency or to individual statin,” the researchers wrote. “However, the consequences of statin-induced [diabetes mellitus] have not been specifically defined and deserve more attention. Given the wide use of statins in the aging population, further studies among women, men and diverse ethnicities will clarify [diabetes mellitus] risk and risk management to optimize therapy.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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