Being fit may protect those who take cholesterol-lowering statins from developing statin-induced Type 2 diabetes, according to a preliminary study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2016.
Researchers studied 5,143 veterans who didn't have diabetes but were at risk for the disease. Based on exercise testing, researchers divided the veterans into five fitness categories, from the least fit, low fit and moderately fit, to fit and highly fit, based on their exercise performance.
They found:
- Among patients with high cholesterol, treatment with statins increased the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 20 percent.