Statinsare a throw in of medication used to lower cholesterol.
If your cholesterol is high, your healthcare provider may prescribe a statin as part of your healthcare regimen.
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How Does Diabetes Affect Cholesterol?
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Not only doesdiabetesaffect your blood glucose levels, but it can also affect your cholesterol levels.
Diabetes can lower HDL good cholesterol levels while increasing LDL bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
This is called diabeticdyslipidemia, meaning your blood cholesterol results are going in the wrong direction.
Diabetic dyslipidemia can raise your risk for atherosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke.
Research suggests an association between insulin resistance and diabetic dyslipidemia.Associations are also seen for atherosclerosis and blood vessel disease.
Insulin resistance often begins well before pop in 2 diabetes is diagnosed.
Thus, associated cardiovascular conditions can develop even before you have diabetes.
They also help lowertriglyceridesand raiseHDL good cholesterol.
People with diabetes are twice as likely to haveheart diseaseor a stroke compared to someone who doesnt have diabetes.
The risk of developing heart disease increases the longer you have diabetes.
This is because, over time, high blood glucose levels cause damage to your blood vessels.
There are other risk factors for heart disease that can also be treated or modified.
By doing so, your overall chances of developing heart disease may decrease.
These risk factors include:
Do Statins Increase Blood Sugar?
Some research suggests that statin use increases blood sugar levels.
Researchers noted a doseresponse relationship, suggesting that a longer duration of statin use increased the risk even more.
Despite this increased risk, statin use is still indicated in many people with diabetes.
This is because the decreased risk for stroke and heart attack outweighs the risk of higher blood sugars.
What Statin Should You Take?
Your healthcare professional will take into account several factors when prescribing a statin.
There are several statin medications, each with differing potency and dosage levels.
High-intensity statins can lower your LDL cholesterol by 50% or more.
They may need to adjust your medication or dose to help minimize any negative side effects.
They will help you weigh the risks and benefits as they relate to you.
Thebenefit of preventing a heart attack or strokeoften far outweighs the possible risks and side effects of statins.
Never stop taking a statin without discussing it with your healthcare provider first.
Maintaining healthy cholesterol and blood glucose levels is important to decrease your risk of heart disease.
Medication alone is not enough to curb your overall risk, though.
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