Healthcast 628 - Statins can cause diabetes

See all the Healthcasts at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog There is an interesting conflict between the truth and the mainstream medical protocols surrounding statins, that we have noticed in our practice for a decade.  Patients who are placed on statins soon develop weight gain and Type II diabetes, and those patients who already have AODM, become worse, gain weight and need more diabetic medications. I have questioned the brilliance of the FDA letting this side effect through their testing process for years. More importantly, why are statins always prescribed for people who have diabetes, even if their lipids are normal? Finally, here is a recent study that documents this side effect, decades after we noticed this phenomenon. The study is found in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 108, Issue 2, February 2023, Pages 385–396.  The reason for the study: "Statins and possibly other lipid modifiers increase type 2 diabetes risk and body mass index (BMI). However, to what extent BMI mediates the diabetogenic effects of lipid modifiers remain unclear. " The findings: 'Genetically mimicked effects of statins and ezetimibe, but not PCSK9 inhibitors were associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 1.74 [95% CI, 1.49 to 2.03]; 1.92 [1.22 to 3.02]; 1.06 [0.87 to 1.29] per SD reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol). Of these lipid modifiers, only genetic mimics of statins were associated with higher BMI (0.33 SD [0.29 to 0.38] per SD reduction in LDL- cholesterol), which explained 54% of the total effect of statins on type 2 diabetes risk.  Statins were considered a miracle drug for people who had had heart disease in the past, which is what statins were made for. To prevent another heart attack or stroke in this particular group.   For some reason, as they were distributed as samples to doctors by pharmaceutical representatives they were pitched as preventive drugs to prevent heart attacks and strokes in normal people with high cholesterol.  Statins became the drug to choose to prevent heart disease in normal people and that is where they hit a snag.   There are many side effects that statins cause as seen in the recent study, and they also have not been tested by the FDA in women, who are the group of people who have the worst side effects and the lowest rate of MI from atherosclerosis.  In addition it was sold as a drug without risk, and I even heard internal medicine doctors telling patients it should be put in the drinking water….a joke but that is what they almost did…they gave it to many people who had no plaque in their vessels and who were not going to have a heart attack in the future. The risks then outweighed the benefits and doctors should stop giving it to women and low risk patients, especially diabetics and patients who are obese, which is 50% of the US adult population. Statins often have lasting side effects, such as statin dementia and severe sarcopenia (loss of muscle) as well as severe muscle-aches and pains that stop people from exercising.  What should happen in medicine is that a doctor should weigh the risks verses the benefits.  If they don't know if a patient has atherosclerosis that patient should have an x-ray called Cardiac Calcium Scan every 5-7 years and if they don't have plaque, then they should not get a statin.  In addition, there is a genetic test to see if the severe effect of sarcopenia (muscle loss) will happen and if a person has that genetic snip, they should take something which is not a statin.  If everyone was tested for these two things most people would not take a statin! The blood sugar increases and the increase in obesity are side effects of statins that were evident in our patients who we test for testosterone deficiency, and who were later put on a statin by their primary care. We found that their lab parameters for diabetes immediately worsened.  For those who had visible side effects, we stopped the statins and found that the lab tests went to normal after stopping the statins, and the side effects went away in most of them.  We have been waiting for this research study ever since, and now it is official.  The research matches our clinical experience!