London: People on cholesterol-lowering statins are nine percent more likely to develop diabetes, but this small absolute risk is outweighed by the drugs` heart-protecting properties, researchers said on Wednesday.
The finding is unlikely to dent the use of best-selling pills like Pfizer Inc`s Lipitor and AstraZeneca Plc`s Crestor by the majority of patients.
It could, however, prompt a rethink among those with low cardiovascular risk factors who are tempted to take statins to prevent future heart disease.
Statins are among the most successful drugs of all time and have been credited with preventing millions of heart attacks and strokes. They generally have few adverse side effects.
Experts said the latest finding, published in the Lancet medical journal, should not stop patients at moderate or high heart risk from taking statins. But it could deter a headlong rush to use them even more widely.
"It will stop us putting statins in the water, as it were, and mean we give them when appropriate for the right reasons," lead researcher Naveed Sattar of the Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Glasgow said.
Past trials of statins have produced conflicting results, with some -- including an influential study of Crestor in 2008 -- suggesting they may cause type 2 diabetes, but others pointing to an actual reduction in risk.
Bureau Report
