There are a number of lifestyle changes you can make to prevent or reduce high cholesterol including eating a healthier diet, exercising more and giving up smoking. While this will be recommended to patients, some will be prescribed statins to help lower cholesterol. However, like any medication this can bring with it some unwanted side effects.
According to the Mayo Clinic, taking statins could raise your blood sugar levels and ultimately lead to type 2 diabetes.
It says: “It’s possible your blood sugar (blood glucose) level may increase when you take a statin, which may lead to developing type 2 diabetes.
“The risk is small but important enough that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning on statin labels regarding blood glucose levels and diabetes.”
However, this usually happens when the person already has high blood sugar levels or is prediabetic.
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“The increase generally occurs when blood sugar levels are already higher than normal and fall in the prediabetes or diabetes range when you begin taking a statin,” the clinic explains.
Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong and potentially life-changing condition that causes blood sugar in the body to become too high.
It can cause symptoms like excessive thirst, needing to urinate a lot and tiredness.
But the Mayo Clinic says the benefits of statins “likely” outweigh the risk of high blood sugar.
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In “rare” cases you could also experience muscle weakness, loss of sensation or tingling in the nerve endings of the hands and feet, and tendon problems.
The NHS advises speaking to your GP if you suffer any side effects or have any concerns.
There are five statins available on prescription in the UK: atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), pravastatin (Lipostat), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and simvastatin (Zocor).
