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UMass Chan study linking statin use to diabetes draws wide interest

Lead researcher cautions: cholesterol-lowering drugs not a ‘magic pill’

The new study led by Yunsheng Ma, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, on the increased risk of diabetes for older women on statin drugs is making headlines across the country, with more than a dozen national media outlets reporting on this important research.

"The statin should not be seen as the magic pill," said Dr. Ma, an epidemiologist at UMMS and senior author on the study, in an interview with the Associated Press.

Ma and Annie Culver, consulting pharmacist and first author on the paper, said the study, published Jan. 9, in the Archives of Internal Medicine, showed a nearly 50 percent increased risk of diabetes in postmenopausal women on statin drugs, using data from the Women’s Health Initiative.

Click on the following links to see how the story was covered:


Associated Press

HEALTHBEAT: Emerging evidence that statins may be linked to a small increase in diabetes risk

LA Times

Statins raise risk of Type 2 diabetes in older women, study finds

Reuters

Statin use tied to more diabetes in women 

Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Statins linked to diabetes

Web MD

Statins May Raise Diabetes Risk in Older Women

US News and World Report

Statins May Boost Diabetes Risk in Older Women 

NBC Nightly News

Statins linked with small diabetes risk

USA Today

Study links statins to higher diabetes in older women 

My Health News Daily

Cholesterol-Lowering Statins May Increase Diabetes Risk in Older Women

Read the full paper:

Statin Use and Risk of Diabetes Mellitus in Postmenopausal Women in the Women's Health Initiative


Related link on UMassMedNow:

Statin use associated with increased diabetes risk in women