Do statins give you diabetes?
Effects of statin therapy on diagnoses of new-onset diabetes and worsening glycaemia in large-scale randomised blinded statin trials: an individual participant data meta-analysis
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Statins can slightly raise blood sugar, which might push some people who are already close to having diabetes over the line into a diagnosis. But they don’t cause full-blown diabetes in healthy people very often.
Surprising Findings
Most of the increased diabetes diagnoses come from more frequent HbA1c testing in high-intensity trials, not just biological effect.
It suggests detection bias—more monitoring leads to more diagnoses, making high-intensity statins appear riskier than they biologically are.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re on a high-intensity statin, ask your doctor about checking your blood sugar—especially if you’re overweight, inactive, or have a family history of diabetes.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Statins can slightly raise blood sugar, which might push some people who are already close to having diabetes over the line into a diagnosis. But they don’t cause full-blown diabetes in healthy people very often.
Surprising Findings
Most of the increased diabetes diagnoses come from more frequent HbA1c testing in high-intensity trials, not just biological effect.
It suggests detection bias—more monitoring leads to more diagnoses, making high-intensity statins appear riskier than they biologically are.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re on a high-intensity statin, ask your doctor about checking your blood sugar—especially if you’re overweight, inactive, or have a family history of diabetes.
Publication
Journal
The lancet. Diabetes & endocrinology
Year
2024
Authors
Christina David Lisa Jonathan Enti Kelly Heather Charlie Lis Reith Preiss Blackwell Emberson Spata Davies Halls, C. Reith, D. Preiss, L. Blackwell, J. Emberson, E. Spata, Kelly Davies, H. Halls, C. Harper, L. Holland, Kate Wilson, Alistair J. Roddick, Christopher P. Cannon, Robert Clarke, H. Colhoun, P. N. Durrington, S. Goto, G. Hitman, G. K. Hovingh, J. Jukema, Wolfgang Koenig, Ian Marschner, B. Mihaylova, Connie Newman, J. Probstfield, Paul M Ridker, M. Sabatine, N. Sattar, Gregory G. Schwartz, L. Tavazzi, Andrew M. Tonkin, S. Trompet, Harvey White, Salim Yusuf, Jane Armitage, Anthony C. Keech, J. Simes, R. Collins, C. Baigent, Elizabeth Barnes, J. Fulcher, W. Herrington, Adrienne Kirby, Rachel L. O’Connell, M. Blazing, Eugene Braunwald, James de Lemos, S. Murphy, T. Pedersen, M. Pfeffer, Stephen W. Wiviott, Michael Clearfield, J. R. Downs, Antonio M. Gotto, Stephen Weis, Bengt Fellström, H. Holdaas, A. Jardine, David Gordon, Barry J. Davis, Curt D. Furberg, Richard Grimm, S. Pressel, Mahboob Rahman, M. Koren, B. Dahlöf, Ajay Gupta, Neil R. Poulter, Peter S Sever, H. Wedel, Robert H. Knopp, S. Cobbe, R. Schmieder, F. Zannad, D. J. Betteridge, J. Fuller, A. Neil, C. Hawkins, L. Moyé, F. Sacks, J. Kjekshus, J. Wikstrand, Christoph Wanner, V. Krane, M. Franzosi, R. Latini, D. Lucci, Aldo P. Maggioni, R. Marchioli, E. Nicolis, G. Tognoni, J. Bosch, Eva M Lonn, L. Bowman, M. Landray, S. Parish, R. Peto, J. Kastelein, Robert Glynn, Jean G Macfadyen, S. MacMahon, John Shaw, Patrick Serruys, G. Knatterud, G. J. Blauw, I. Ford, Peter W Macfarlane, C. Packard, James Shepherd, R. Bulbulia, R. Haynes, P. Sleight, Pierre Amarenco, K. Welch, Lars Wilhelmsen, Philip Barter, J. Larosa, S. Kean, M. Robertson, Robin Young, H. Arashi, M. Flather, U. Goldbourt, J. Hopewell, G. Kitas, Liam Smeeth, Jonathan A. Tobert, J. Varigos, Emily Banks, Michael Blastland, Stephen Evans, Robert Temple, P. Weissberg, Janet Wittes
Related Content
Claims (6)
Taking statins might slightly raise your chances of getting type 2 diabetes, but they do a much better job of preventing heart attacks and strokes — especially if you're already at high risk.
Taking statins might slightly raise your blood sugar levels, enough that some people get diagnosed with diabetes even if they were just close to the cutoff — especially with stronger doses.
Taking low or moderate doses of statin drugs slightly raises the chance of being diagnosed with diabetes because it can push blood sugar levels just high enough to cross the line into the diabetes range.
Taking strong statin drugs might slightly raise your chance of getting type 2 diabetes, especially if your blood sugar was already on the higher side to begin with.
Most people who get diabetes from taking statins were already close to having it — about 6 out of 10 had blood sugar levels near the danger zone before starting the medication.