New JUPITER Analysis Clarifies Risk for Incident Diabetes with Statin Therapy

Several trials and meta-analyses have suggested that statin use raises risk for diabetes. In the industry-funded JUPITER trial (JW Gen Med Nov 18 2008), more than 17,000 patients without previous cardiovascular disease or diabetes and with LDL cholesterol levels <130 mg/dL and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels ≥2.0 mg/L were randomized to receive either daily rosuvastatin (Crestor; 20 mg) or placebo. By 2 years, rosuvastatin recipients had experienced 44% fewer adverse cardiovascular events but were 25% more likely to have received incident diabetes diagnoses.

The JUPITER investigators now report the influence of baseline diabetes risk factors (metabolic syndrome, impaired fasting glucose, body-mass index ≥30 kg/m², or glycosylated …