Diabetes patients can reduce the risk of cardiovascular events through Statin therapy, according to a study published in the leading medical journal Lancet.

Statins are drugs used to bring down cholesterol levels. While only around 20 per cent of diabetic patients in India use them, in the US, 80-90 per cent diabetic patients depend on it. “Statins are the gross under-utilised drugs as far as we are concerned,” said Dr Anoop Misra, director and head, Department of Diabetes and Metabolism, Fortis Healthcare.

At least 170 million people in the world are estimated to have diabetes mellitus. The researchers from the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists Collaboration at the University of Oxford, UK, did a large meta analysis which showed how “people with diabetes can reduce their risk of cardiovascular events from statin therapy in the same way as people without diabetes, regardless of existing cardiovascular disease,” says the journal.

According to the study, among people with diabetes, the proportional effects of statin therapy were similar, irrespective of whether there was a prior history of vascular disease and irrespective of other baseline characteristics. After 5 years, it was seen that fewer people with diabetes had major vascular events per 1,000 allocated statin therapy.

According to Dr AK Jhingan, chairman, Delhi Diabetes Research Centre, 80 per cent of people with diabetes die of cardiovascular disease, 50 per cent of these patients have signs of cardiovascular problem even after the diagnosis. “Most importantly, the cause of cardiovascular mortality is high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. If we can reduce the levels of cholestrol and triglycerides, which are typical of Type II diabetes , we can reduce the mortality,” he said.