medwireNews: Researchers find that the increased risk for type 2 diabetes among patients taking statins is limited to the least fit individuals.
The study in The American Journal of Medicine was of US veterans (so mostly men) – 4092 taking statins and 3001 not – who underwent exercise testing at baseline. Within the least fit quartile (achieving an age-adjusted median peak of 4.8 Metabolic Equivalents), taking a statin was associated with a significant 1.50-fold increased risk for new-onset type 2 diabetes over a median follow-up of 8.3 years.
There was also a significant 1.22-fold increased risk for slightly fitter participants in the next quartile (6.5 Metabolic Equivalents), but statin-takers in the moderate- and high-fit quartiles (respectively 8.0 and 10.3 Metabolic Equivalents) did not have an increased risk for diabetes.
The cardiorespiratory fitness level of around 8.0 Metabolic Equivalents at which the statin-related diabetes risk disappeared “is achievable by most middle-aged and older individuals by moderate levels of physical activity such as 30-40 minutes of brisk walk most days of [the] week,” say Peter Kokkinos (Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA) and colleagues.
medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare. © 2017 Springer Healthcare part of the Springer Nature group