Cholesterol drug side effect warnings possible

MICHELLE COOKE

New Zealand doctors may soon have to warn hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders that their cholesterol-lowering medication increases the risk of diabetes and dementia.

More than 400,000 people - one in every 10 New Zealanders - are prescribed either Lipitor or Lipex to lower their cholesterol levels.

New research shows that statins have been found to lead to memory loss and increase a person's chance of developing diabetes by nine per cent, sparking the United States to issue a mandatory label on the medicine, warning of its side effects.

The announcement by the United States Food and Drug Association (FDA) on Tuesday sparked New Zealand's health regulator Medsafe to conduct a review.

A New Zealand study in 2007 made links between memory loss and statins, and information about the side effects are available in datasheets for such medicines, Medsafe's protection and regulation manager Chris James says.

But the link between statins and diabetes is not included. The review will decide whether the side effect should be included in datasheets, which doctors use as a reference when alerting patients to potential adverse effects.

More than 200,000 Kiwis already have diabetes, which is considered an epidemic in New Zealand.

The FDA's research, which looked at medical literature and analysis of more than 90,000 patients, concluded that people who take statins are nine per cent more likely to develop diabetes than those that don't.

It also concluded that patient's cognitive abilities were affected, but returned to normal once they stopped taking the medication.

More:
Cholesterol drug side effect warnings possible