Statins Use in Post-Menopausal Women Increases the Risk for Diabetes by as Much as 71 Percent (Compared to Women Who Did Not Take Statins) and 48 Percent (when Data Are Adjusted for Multiple Confounding Variables) — Findings from the Women’s Health Initiative and a Lay Overview by Dr. Mark Hyman

© 2012 Peter Free

 

22 January 2012

 

 

More evidence that statins are over-prescribed

 

A newly published study taken from the Women’s Health Initiative presented evidence that statins use in post-menopausal women increases their risk for diabetes by 71 and 48 percent, depending on what comparisons are made.

 

This is a startlingly significant risk elevation, given the usually subtle mechanisms prevalent in biology and medicine.

 

Note

 

I have written about exaggerated claims regarding the benefits of cholesterol-lowering statins before:

 

here (JUPITER Rosuvastatin study upended),

 

here (new study highlights misleading pharmaceutical research),

 

and here (illustrating one aspect of Big Pharma’s grip on medical practice).

 

 

Citation — to the post-menopausal statins research article

 

Annie L. Culver, Ira S. Ockene, Raji Balasubramanian, Barbara C. Olendzki, Deidre M. Sepavich, Jean Wactawski-Wende, JoAnn E. Manson, Yongxia Qiao, Simin Liu, Philip A. Merriam, Catherine Rahilly-Tierny, Fridtjof Thomas, Jeffrey S. Berger, Judith K. Ockene, J. David Curb, and Yunsheng Ma, Statin Use and Risk of Diabetes Mellitus in Postmenopausal Women in the Women's Health Initiative, Archives of Internal Medicine, doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.625 (online first, 09 January 2012)

 

 

Specific findings

 

From the paper’s abstract:

 

This investigation included 153 840 women without DM [diabetes mellitus] and no missing data at baseline.

 

At baseline, 7.04% reported taking statin medication. There were 10 242 incident cases of self-reported DM over 1 004 466 person-years of follow-up.

 

Statin use at baseline was associated with an increased risk of DM (hazard ratio . . .  1.71 . . . .)

 

This association remained after adjusting for other potential confounders (multivariate-adjusted HR, 1.48 . . . ) and was observed for all types of statin medications.

 

Subset analyses evaluating the association of self-reported DM with longitudinal measures of statin use in 125 575 women confirmed these findings.

 

© 2012 Annie L. Culver, Ira S. Ockene, Raji Balasubramanian, Barbara C. Olendzki, Deidre M. Sepavich, Jean Wactawski-Wende, JoAnn E. Manson, Yongxia Qiao, Simin Liu, Philip A. Merriam, Catherine Rahilly-Tierny, Fridtjof Thomas, Jeffrey S. Berger, Judith K. Ockene, J. David Curb, and Yunsheng Ma, Statin Use and Risk of Diabetes Mellitus in Postmenopausal Women in the Women's Health Initiative, Archives of Internal Medicine, doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.625 (online first, 09 January 2012) (paragraph split)

 

 

Dr. Mark Hyman’s interpretation

 

Mark Hyman is a practicing physician.  He wrote yesterday regarding this study:

 

Since diabetes is a major cause of heart disease, this study calls into question current recommendations and guidelines from most professional medical associations and physicians.

 

The recommendation for women to take statins to prevent heart attacks (called primary prevention) may do more harm than good.

 

Statins have been proven to prevent second heart attacks, but not first heart attacks. Take it if you already have had one, but beware if your doctor recommends it for you if have never had a heart attack.

 

© 2012 Mark Hyman, Why Women Should Stop Their Cholesterol-Lowering Medication, Huffington Post (21 January 2012) (paragraph split)

 

Hyman’s appraisal of the evidence for and against statins is worth reading for everyone at normal or low risk of cardiovascular disease.  It provides a basis for an informed discussion with your own physician.