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Cholesterol Drug Helps All Diabetics,
Study Finds
Washington Post
August 20, 2004
People suffering from the most common form of diabetes could sharply cut their risk for heart attacks and strokes by taking a cholesterol-lowering drug even if they have normal cholesterol levels, according to a major new study.
The study of more than 2,800 patients with Type 2, or adult, diabetes found that those who took the cholesterol drug Lipitor were more than one- third less likely to have a heart attack, nearly half as likely to have a stroke and about one-third less likely to die from any form of cardiovascular disease.
"This is a landmark study with watertight data showing clear evidence of a benefit that warrants people to really look at their treatment of this group of patients," said the study's lead author, Helen Colhoun, a professor at the University College Dublin. The study was terminated two years early because the results were so striking.
Most other experts agreed, saying the findings provide the most convincing evidence yet that most diabetics should consider taking the drugs regardless of their cholesterol levels. The research is the latest in a series of studies showing that the widely popular class of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins could benefit far more people than are taking them.
"This is another extraordinary result," said Peter Libby, a Harvard Medical School cardiologist.
Although the study, being published in Saturday's issue of the journal the Lancet, received some funding from Lipitor's maker, Pfizer Inc., it was supported primarily by the British government and the British equivalent of the American Diabetes Association and conducted independently of the company, Colhoun said.
About 17 million Americans suffer from Type 2 diabetes, which has been increasing rapidly in the United States because of the rising number of overweight people. Doctors have long known that diabetes sharply increases the risk for heart attacks and strokes, but patients generally do not take statins unless they have high cholesterol levels.
Evidence has been mounting, however, that many diabetics could benefit from the drugs even if their cholesterol levels fall within what is considered normal under current guidelines.
The new study is the first aimed at testing whether a statin could help diabetics.
Researchers gave 2,838 Type 2 diabetics in Britain and Ireland with normal cholesterol levels either 10 milligrams of Lipitor or a placebo every day.
After an average of four years, those taking Lipitor were 36 percent less likely to have had a heart attack or to have died suddenly because of their hearts stopping, 48 percent less likely to have had a stroke and 37 percent less likely to have suffered any serious adverse cardiovascular event.
Not everyone agreed with the authors' conclusions. In an editorial accompanying the study, Abhimanyu Garg, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said it was premature to recommend cholesterol drugs for all diabetics.
"You can't generalize your recommendations based on one trial," Garg said in an interview.
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