Statins May Reduce Diabetes-Related Damage

Taking statin drugs to lower cholesterol can raise blood sugar in some people. But these drugs may actually reduce the risk of diabetes-related problems such as eye and nerve damage, a study suggests. The study looked at records in a Danish clinical registry of people with diabetes. Researchers compared 2 groups. One group included 15,679 people who had used statins before diagnosis with diabetes. The other 47,037 people had not taken statins. Researchers looked at their records for a median of 2.7 years after diagnosis. People who had used statins were 34% less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes-related nerve damage than those who had not used these drugs. They were 40% less likely to develop eye damage. Their risk of gangrene was about 12% lower than for those who had not taken statins. Kidney damage occurred at equal rates in both groups.