COMMENTARY

Morning Report: Statin-Diabetes Link in Older Women

Arefa Cassoobhoy, MD, MPH

April 07, 2017

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Hello. I'm Dr Arefa Cassoobhoy, a practicing internist and a medical editor for Medscape and WebMD. Welcome to Morning Report, our "1-minute" news story for primary care.

Statins and Diabetes Risk in Older Women

The link between statin use and new-onset diabetes is known. But now, data suggest that this risk is strong in elderly women and shows a dose-response effect.

An observational study of more than 8000 women, aged 76-82 and followed for 10 years, found that statin therapy increased the risk for new-onset diabetes by an average of 33%. The risk ranged from a low of 17% with the lowest statin doses to a high of 51% for the highest doses.

The authors suggest that serious consideration be given to stopping statins in elderly women. And those still taking statins should be closely monitored for increased blood glucose to ensure early detection and management of diabetes.

For Medscape and WebMD, I'm Dr Arefa Cassoobhoy.

Follow Dr Cassoobhoy on Twitter at @ArefaMD

Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.

Cite this: Morning Report: Statin-Diabetes Link in Older Women - Medscape - Apr 07, 2017.

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