Pravastatin Found to Reduce Diabetes Onset

A study has discovered that pravastatin can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Conducted by researchers at the University of Glasgow (Scotland), the study was published in the January 23 issue of Circulation. Pravastatin is a drug used to lower cholesterol.

The researchers found that subjects on a placebo during the five years of the study had about a 3% chance of getting type 2 diabetes, while the risk of diabetes for those taking pravastatin was reduced by 30%. This finding follows further analysis of the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study. This study of 6,595 men with elevated cholesterol levels and no history of heart disease showed that pravastatinn reduced the risk of a first heart attack.

Although the 30% reduction for diabetes among pravastatin users was encouraging, the researchers say that further large randomized studies are needed to confirm the finding. One question that needs to be researched is whether all drugs of the statin family have this effect or whether the reduction is related to particular characteristics of pravastatin. Scientists will also seek to explain the underlying mechanisms that brought about this effect.