Genetic Disorder May Reveal How Statins Boost Diabetes Risk

Millions of people take statins to lower their cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. But taking statins does slightly up the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Figuring out whether that means "No statins for you" isn't always easy, despite a proliferation of guidelines intended to help. Here's in interesting wrinkle: If you've got a hereditary form of high cholesterol you're much less likely to get Type 2 diabetes, according to a study published Tuesday in JAMA, the journal of the That's good news for those people, who often have high levels of LDL cholesterol starting in childhood and face a high risk of heart disease and stroke. And it offers intriguing hints as to a possible link between cholesterol receptors in the body and Type 2 diabetes. One theory on how statins work is that they encourage cells to hoover up the bad LDL cholesterol by turning on LDL receptors. That's good for lowering cholesterol levels in the blood, but the study authors said it may also end up damaging the pancreas, which has lots of LDL receptors and controls blood sugar. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/03/10/392068971/genetic-disorder-may-reveal-how-statins-boost-diabetes-risk