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Pharmacotherapy

Statins and new-onset diabetes—the important questions

Observational data from the Women's Health Initiative show a 48% increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus with statins. Results from two meta-analyses of randomized trials of statins with 120,000 participants have indicated a dose-dependent, but more-modest, relationship between statins and new-onset diabetes. Careful interpretation of pharmacoepidemiological data is required.

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Correspondence to David Preiss.

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Competing interests

N. Sattar is a consultant for, and has received honoraria from, AstraZeneca, MSD, and Pfizer, and has received a grant or research support from Pfizer. D. Preiss declares no competing interests.

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Preiss, D., Sattar, N. Statins and new-onset diabetes—the important questions. Nat Rev Cardiol 9, 190–192 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2012.15

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