Statin users have lower risk of developing diabetic complications, study suggests

Blood vessels in the choroid of the eye — A branch- ing network of arteries and veins can be seen in this area under the central fovea. The choroid is a tissue layer beneath the retina which supplies blood, thus food and oxygen, to light sensitive cells of the eye. Many cone cells occur on the retina at the central fovea area, specialized for acute day vision, and hence an area that uses much blood. The choroid is also darkened (blue) with pigment cells; pigment absorbs light rays passing through the retina and prevents light reflection.

People with diabetes have an increased risk of developing microvascular complications but the impact of prior statin use on these complications is unclear.

To investigate, BÃ¸rge Nordestgaard, from Copenhagen University Hospital, matched 15,679 people who had used statins regularly until they were diagnosed with diabetes with 47,037 people who had never used statins before diagnosis.

Compared with non-users, statin users had significantly lower risks of developing diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy and gangrene of the foot, with hazard ratios of 0.60, 0.66 and 0.88, respectively.

“Whether statins are protective against some forms of microvascular disease — a possibility raised by these data — will need to be addressed in other studies,” the authors conclude in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology (10 September 2014)^[1].