Did you get diabetes after starting a statin drug? This is very common, statin users often find better cholesterol ratios over time, but higher blood glucose. Sit down for my next comment: It's entirely possible that you've been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes when in fact you just have hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and it's just a side effect, and the result of your statin.
The good news is your "diabetes" may even be reversible when your statin treatment is over. I've counted 84 people (including my BookFace mom) who got off their statin and reversed their "diabetes."
It may be news to you, but many studies and reports have shown that statins can cause raise blood sugar, which is sadly and disgracefully mistaken for "diabetes." Now you're on the expensive medication merry-go-round!
Another bombshell coming: People with high cholesterol have a lower risk of getting diabetes, which is in keeping with what I just told you about statins triggering the condition. I've got the most current information now. Researchers looked at the rates of diabetes among 63,385 Dutch residents in the Netherlands between 1994 and 2014. Of these participants, 25,137 had inherited "Familial Hypercholesterolemia" which is a condition that means high cholesterol from their inherited genes. These people with the genetic snp (pronounced snip) coding for high cholesterol displayed significantly lower rates of type 2 diabetes! The details were reported in the March 2015 edition of JAMA if you want to look it up. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes was actually 38% lower, which suggests high cholesterol protects against diabetes. Keep in the back of your mind how people taking statin drugs face an increased risk of developing diabetes, anywhere from 9 to 46 percent depending on what study you read.
It's pure genius if you think about it. Here you have multiple studies showing how cholesterol-reducing statins raise blood sugar, and now we see clearly that people who have higher endogenous levels of cholesterol are protected from diabetes. I'm talking about endogenous (body-produced) cholesterol, okay, so this is not your excuse to eat bacon.
Insulin is your God-given pancreatic hormone and it's secreted to help reduce blood sugar after you eat and drink. You want some insulin to maintain blood glucose levels, but too much of it is the equivalent of acid in your veins. And guess what? The use of statin drugs appears to increase your insulin levels!
Now I'll summarize this:
- High insulin and blood sugar is extremely harmful to your health.
- The regulation of glucose and insulin is crucial.
- The 'standard of practice' in medicine calls for severely low levels of cholesterol (in my opinion) hence the need for statins.
- Statins reduce cholesterol, but may raise insulin and blood sugar over time.
- Medications used to reduce blood sugar do not address the full-body inflammatory process that is going on.
- If you started a statin drug, and now have diabetes, try to lower your cholesterol with diet and exercise, and don't lower it too much.
The Diabetes Statin Connection
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Suzy Cohen
Suzy Cohen, is known as America’s Pharmacist. She has been a licensed pharmacist for 24 years and is a Functional Medicine practitioner. She’s the author of 6 books, including her most recent Amazon #1 best-seller, “Thyroid Healthy: Lose Weight, Look Beautiful and Live the Life You Imagine.”
She was the host of The Thyroid Summit which broadcast worldwide in June 2014. Suzy has been a syndicated columnist for 19 years reaching 20 million in circulation each week. She is a Huffington Post writer, and also hosts her own syndicated medical minute on TV. Suzy has been featured on The Dr OZ Show 6 times, and has appeared on The View, Good Morning America Health, The Doctors and hundreds of other networks. She is a member of The Institute of Functional Medicine, also the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, The American Pharmacists Association and ILADS, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society. You can read free articles and receive your free newsletter by visiting her website, SuzyCohen.com
Books authored by Suzy Cohen include:
- Thyroid Healthy
- Headache Free
- Drug Muggers
- Diabetes Without Drugs
- The 24-Hour Pharmacist
- Eczema: Itchin’ for a Cure (kindle only)
- Understanding Pancreatitis & Pancreatic Cancer (kindle only)