Statins significantly reduce mortality risk for adults with diabetes, regardless of CV risk,suggests study

A large cohort study found that statins significantly reduce the risk of death and major cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes, even among those with low predicted 10-year cardiovascular risk.

The findings challenge long-standing uncertainty about whether patients at the lowest risk benefit from preventive statin therapy, suggesting that the drugs may have broader protective value than previously assumed. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong and colleagues analyzed data from the IQVIA Medical Research Data (IMRD)-UK database to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of statin initiation for primary prevention among adults with type 2 diabetes stratified by predicted 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease.

The study population included people in the UK with type 2 diabetes aged 25 to 84 who were followed for up to 10 years. None of these patients had serious heart or liver problems before the study began. The researchers compared people who initiated statin use with those who did not across different levels of predicted heart disease risk.

The data showed that statins lowered the chances of dying from any cause and reduced the risk of major cardiac events for all patients, even those considered at low risk.

The authors noted a very small increase in myopathy was seen in one risk group, but there was no added risk of liver issues. According to the researchers, these data suggest that clinicians should consider the benefits of using statins in all adults with type 2 diabetes even when short-term predicted cardiovascular disease risk is low.