A new study that links intensive-dose statin therapy to increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus is unlikely to convince HM or any other specialty to discontinue the treatment, a hospitalist focused on glycemic issues says.
A recent JAMA article reports that a meta-analysis of five clinical trials showed intensive statin regimen was associated with a 12% increased diabetes incidence over moderate-dose regimens (JAMA. 2011;305(24):2556-2564). The authors found that it would take 498 patients taking a statin to cause one extra case of diabetes. Conversely, only 155 people taking a statin would prevent one heart attack.
“The benefits of statins are just too well documented to ignore,” says Steven C. Smith, MD, FHM, medical director of hospitalist services at Healthcare Authority for Medical West in Bessemer, Ala. Quoting a cardiologist colleague, he adds, “statins are so beneficial, there is no way I wouldn’t use them because of a higher risk for diabetes.”
Dr. Smith, who leads the SHM-sponsored Glycemic Control Mentored Implementation program at his hospital, says the research is a formal link for what many hospitalists already realize: patients taking statins because of cardiovascular risk factors usually are at risk for diabetes. He adds that “modifiable risk factors”—including sedentary lifestyle, weight issues and diet—are prevalent in both patient groups. He refers to the JAMA research as “the last stone on the scale that tips the scale.”
“You have to weigh one versus the other,” Dr. Smith says. “The population of people on statins are already at risk for diabetes…you really have to address the risk factors that will solve both problems.”