A new Lipitor study finds that the heart disease medication and other statins like it pose a small but significant increased risk for the development of type-2 diabetes.

The study was published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolismand was conducted by researchers at the University of Alabama and the Mid America Heart Institute at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

The increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes from statins like Lipitor and Crestor is “definite but small,” the researchers found.

They looked at several studies on different heart disease medications and found the results were all over the map regarding the statins and their link to diabetes. Some larger studies did seem to show an increased risk that was statistically significant, while other studies showed no risk at all.

One study showed a 34 percent increase in developing diabetes if patients took Lipitor; a large analysis of about 50,000 patients revealed a 6 percent increase, which is not considered statistically significant. An even larger study had a 9 percent increase, which is statistically significant; while other studies showed 25 percent, 15 percent and 7 percent increases with various statin drugs such as Crestor and Pravachol.

“Because of the conflicting outcomes, even in these large studies, several large meta-analyses have been performed to try to prove or disprove whether statins as a class cause conversion to diabetes,” the researchers explained.

After analyzing the studies that have been done, the researchers concluded that there is certainly a risk of developing diabetes from Lipitor and other statins, but they are unsure of how significant that risk is, especially at the clinical level.

“[T]here seems to be a definite but small increase in the development of diabetes with statin therapy, which generally occurs in those predisposed to develop diabetes through the presence of diabetogenic risk factors,” the researchers explained.

They added that those patients who were already at risk for diabetes due to obesity, insulin resistance syndrome and age as well as other factors, were put at even greater risk when prescribed statins.

“With statin therapy the risk of developing diabetes is far outweighed by the statin-induced decrease in cardiac events,” they explain.

The researchers also offered a theory as to why the statins may lead to the increased risk for developing type-2 diabetes. They said that the statins cause ubiquinone levels to drop, which is even more significant at higher doses, and that when there is a ubiquinone deficiency, it causes a delay in insulin release, which could then lead to the development of type-2 diabetes.

In February 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a label change for Lipitor and Zocor (their generic counterparts atorvastatin and simvastatin) stating the risk of increased blood sugar levels and of developing type-2 diabetes among those who took the heart disease medication.

“The value of statins in preventing heart disease has been clearly established,” said Amy Egan, Deputy Director for Safety at the FDA. “Their benefit is clearly indisputable, but they need to be taken with care and knowledge of their side effects.”

The announcement came after several studies were published showing the there is a link between Lipitor and the onset of type-2 diabetes.

There has been an influx of Lipitor lawsuits against its drug maker, Pfizer Inc., from women alleging that the heart disease medication caused them to develop type-2 diabetes.