While the popular heart disease medication Lipitor has been proven to help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk for heart disease, researchers warn that doctors should take caution when prescribing it to women as data has shown an increase in the risk of developing type-2 diabetes in female Lipitor patients.

In February 2012, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced a label change for Lipitor, Zocor, and their generic counterparts atorvastatin and simvastatin, listing increased blood sugar levels and of the development of type-2 diabetes among the health complications experienced by 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.

Lipitor Diabetes Studies

In 2011, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology published research showing that patients taking a high dose of Lipitor had an almost 9 percent increase in developing diabetes, while the placebo group had only a 6 percent risk. However, there was a 37 percent increased risk of developing Lipitor diabetes when factors such as age, weight and smoking habits were accounted for.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School conducted a study that looked at 154,000 women who took Lipitor over a seven-year timespan and found that post-menopausal women over the age of 63 who were taking the cholesterol medication had an almost 50 percent greater likelihood of developing type-2 diabetes when compared with women who didn’t take any statins. This was the conclusion after they took into account factors such as obesity, lack of exercise and age.

However, the University of Massachusetts study noted that it wasn’t clear if the increase was due to Lipitor of if women were taking more liberties with their diets and other such factors because they felt they had the added protection of the heart disease medication.

The British Medical Journal published a Canadian study in May 2012 that looked at the health data of 500,000 Ontario residents and found that Lipitor patients had a 22 percent increased risk of developing new-onset diabetes. Crestor patients had an 18 percent increased risk and Zocor patients had a 10 percent greater risk when compared to patients who took Pravachol. However, the study has been criticized for not taking into account factors such as weight, ethnicity or family history as well as failing to account for their blood sugar and cholesterol levels prior to taking high dosages of the heart disease medications.