Which is the best statin for people with diabetes?

The ADA recommends a moderate statin dose for people with diabetes who are under 40, or 40 to 75 without any other risks for heart disease. A high statin dose is recommended for people with diabetes who have heart disease, and for those between 40 and 75 who have other risk factors for heart disease.

A combination treatment with metformin and statins showed a significantly decreased risk for PCa that was greater than either medication alone. The apparent favorable effect of both metformin and statin on PCa may be due to their synergistic effects via lipid-lowering or a combination of pleiotropic effects.

• Atorvastatin (Lipitor)
• Fluvastatin (Lescol)
• Lovastatin (Mevacor)
• Pravastatin (Pravachol)
• Rosuvastatin (Crestor)
• Simvastatin (Zocor)
• Pitavastatin* (Livalo)

The low-intensity statins—pravastatin, fluvastatin and lovastatin—had minimal effect on serum glucose. The researchers noted that while the bulk of studies appear to confirm a link, 3 other studies found little or no correlation between statin use and increased HbA1c.

In some cases, the problems will resolve simply by reducing the dose or switching to another statin, but care is required. Still, all in all, the statins are the safest and best tolerated of all cholesterol-lowering medications.

If you forget to take a dose, take it as soon as you remember. However, if it’s almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Don’t take two doses to make up for the dose you missed.

In the analysis of 135 previous studies, which included nearly 250,000 people combined, researchers found that the drugs simvastatin (Zocor) and pravastatin (Pravachol) had the fewest side effects in this class of medications.

7 cholesterol-lowering alternatives to statins

• Fibrates. Mostly used for lowering triglyceride levels in patients whose levels are very high and could cause pancreatitis.
• Plant stanols and sterols.
• Cholestyramine and other bile acid-binding resins.
• Niacin.
• Policosanol.
• Red yeast rice extract (RYRE)
• Natural products.

There are many non-statin medications your doctor might prescribe: Bile acid-binding resins, like cholestyramine (Locholest, Prevalite, Questran), colesevelam (WelChol), and colestipol (Colestid) stick to cholesterol-rich bile acids in your intestines and lower your LDL levels.

The only one on the market is the drug ezetimibe, available as a generic or as the name-brand Zetia. This drug can be combined with statins to produce faster results. However, many doctors prescribe ezetimibe alone and combine it with a low-fat diet to help reduce cholesterol.

A recall occurs when a product is removed from the market due to a potentially harmful defect. Pfizer voluntarily recalled specific bottles of Lipitor (40 mg only) due to reports of an unusual odor.

There’s a new drug called Nexletol, and it’s used for people with the highest risk. That’s people with genetic or familial high cholesterol or those who have heart disease and further need to lower their cholesterol. It’s called bempedoic acid. It works to lower the cholesterol your liver makes.

The recall includes 90-count bottles of atorvastatin calcium tablets, 10 mg (NDC 70377-027-11), from lot ATA318099C (Exp. 12/20). On February 7, 2020, the FDA designated the recall Class II, signaling use of the product could cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences.

Atorvastatin Lawsuits The generic product is manufactured by Ranbaxy Pharmaceutical who makes claims that taking their Atorvastatin product does not pose a safety risk and that their recall was a precautionary measure when small specks of glass were reportedly found in contaminated pills.