After a median follow-up of 2.7 years, the study showed that people who used statins were 34 percent less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes-related nerve damage and 40 percent less likely to develop diabetes-related damage to the retina. These patients also had a 12 percent lower risk of gangrene than those who did not take statins.
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However, the researchers pointed out that the risk for kidney disease was no different between the patients who took statins and those who did not.
“We found no evidence that statin use is associated with an increased risk of microvascular disease. Whether or not statins are protective against some forms of microvascular disease — a possibility raised by these data — and by which mechanism, will need to be addressed in studies similar to ours,” study co-author Dr. Sune Nielsen said in the journal news release.
The author of a commentary that accompanied the study suggested a possible explanation for the finding.
“Statins also have anti-inflammatory effects, which might slow the progression of microvascular disease in the eye or kidney,” Dr. David Preiss, from the British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Research Centre at the University of Glasgow, explained in the news release.
Another expert said the unexpected finding shows why such research is important.
“This just reaffirms that statins work through multiple complex mechanisms, and that it is important to do the study rather than to come to conclusions based on assumptions,” said Dr. Allison Reiss, head of Inflammation Laboratory at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. “It is also noteworthy that the population in Denmark is much more homogeneous than in other parts of the world, and results could be different if the population were more diverse.”
More information
The American Diabetes Association provides more information on diabetes complications.
SOURCE: Allison Reiss, head, Inflammation Laboratory, Winthrop-University Hospital, Mineola, N.Y.; The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, news release, Sept. 9, 2014