Diabetics and Statins

Submitted by Dana on Tue, 2010-06-22 21:05

Yikes. Atorvastatin, better known as Lipitor, is one of the most frequently prescribed drugs in the country. It is especially frequently prescribed for type 2 diabetics, since they frequently have high cholesterol, especially if they've gotten the godawful advice the ADA hands out, to eat a low fat diet based on carbohydrate.

But I've recently learned that a study was published back in 2006, comparing Lipitor to Pravachol, another statin, regarding effects on blood glucose in type 2 diabetics. The diabetics continued taking their regular doses of hypoglycemic medication, and were assigned to one or the other statin drug. The Lipitor patients saw an average 20 point jump in blood sugar.

I'm not stumping for Pravachol, you understand; I think statins are hideously overprescribed and oversold, and remain unconvinced that total cholesterol levels have much of anything to do with heart disease. I also think statins are far more dangerous than the general public has been led to believe. I've stated here before that my doctor and I have an agreement that if she ever wants me to stop being her patient, all she needs to do is try to push me into taking statins.

But it appears that Lipitor is an even worse idea for diabetics than some other statins. If you're a diabetic and on the stuff, and have noticed a worsening of your blood sugar levels, this could be why.

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statins, etc.

Submitted by NancyB on Wed, 2010-06-23 19:53.

I'm a type 2 diabetic and have been on a low carb diet for 12 years. I took Lipitor briefly and it scrambled my brain. I've read recently that the Farmingham study showed that the healthiest women in their 60s and 70s had cholesterol levels between 240 and 280. I've also read an interesting hypothesis in "Alzheimer's Solved". The author took care of his father-in-law and watched him lose weight and take statins before developing Alzheimer's. His premise (unproven) is that low cholesterol causes the amyloid plaques to build up in the brain. He also thinks poor diet and starvation play a part.

Alzheimer's

Submitted by Dana on Wed, 2010-06-23 21:47.

I agree that nutrition plays a big part in Alzheimer's. The brain has a lot of cholesterol in it, as do our nerves; I can't see across-the-board lowering of cholesterol as cognition-friendly. Plus, of course, there's speculation that Alzheimer's may also involve insulin resistance on the part of brain cells -- a form of brain diabetes, if you will. Makes you shudder for the "we won't drink anything that's not laced with corn syrup" generation, doesn't it? I occasionally have dark, George-Romero-esque visions of me as the last sane person left standing in a world full of sugar-addled Alzheimer's patients.

I have read/heard that a not-uncommon side effect of statins is transient global amnesia -- suddenly you have no idea who you are, where you are, or what you're doing. I find myself hoping that the guys flying my commercial jetliners aren't both on statins...