dis and ns were responsible for drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content .
in this issue of the journal , erqou and colleagues ( doi 10.1007/s00125 - 014 - 3374-x ) report , in a systematic review and meta - analysis of randomised trials , a very modest ( 1.3  mmol / mol or 0.12% ) albeit significant increase in hba1c in patients with diabetes treated with statins , compared with control . here , we discuss the clinical relevance of the findings . given the overwhelming benefit of statins on cardiovascular outcomes in diabetes , current guidelines recommending statins for primary prevention in type 2 diabetes should not change , and any effect on microvascular risk is likely to be minimal . 
 of course , all patients recommended for statin treatment , whether they have diabetes or not , should now be warned of a slight potential for dysglycaemia on starting statins , but at the same time they should be told that very modest lifestyle improvement will help offset this dysglycaemia risk . 
 finally , we remind colleagues that nearly all drugs have side effects and we should not be surprised by this statin  dysglycaemia effect , which can be easily managed .