Taking statins ( pictured ) can increase your chance of developing diabetes by up to 46 per cent , research has shown . Taking statins can increase your chance of developing diabetes by up to 46 per cent , research has shown . The cholesterol-lowering drugs are thought to prevent the hormone insulin from working properly , which can trigger type 2 diabetes . The risk , which is far higher than previously believed , has prompted fresh concern about the side effects of the pills . The findings are particularly worrying as last year the NHS recommended that up to 17million adults should be on statins to prevent heart attacks and strokes . The drugs ’ rationing body NICE published guidance last July urging GPs to prescribe them to anyone with a 10 per cent risk of developing heart disease in a decade . This represents around 40 per cent of adults in the UK , and academics said the advice was ‘ foolhardy ’ when so little was known about the side effects . In the latest study , scientists from the University of Eastern Finland studied 8,749 men aged 45 to 73 over a six-year period . Just under a quarter were taking statins when the study started . Some had only been on the pills for a few months , others for several years . Over the course of the study , the scientists found that taking statins increased the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 46 per cent . Their research , published in the journal Diabetologia , found that statins reduced the ability of insulin to break down blood sugar . This is known as insulin sensitivity , and was on average 24.3 per cent lower in men who were taking statins . The cholesterol-lowering drugs are thought to prevent the hormone insulin from working properly , which can trigger type 2 diabetes . The researchers believe that if insulin does not break down blood sugar , and the body ’ s sugar levels rise too high , then it can trigger type 2 diabetes . They concluded : ‘ Statin therapy was associated with a 46 per cent increased risk of type 2 diabetes . 'The association of statin use with increased risk of developing diabetes is most likely directly related to statins decreasing both insulin sensitivity and secretion. ’ Dr Aseem Malhotra , a consultant cardiologist in London , said that contrary to the NHS guidance , healthy adults should not be taking statins , adding : ‘ I personally wouldn ’ t take it or recommend it to friend or family member who is otherwise healthy but let them make up their own minds after giving them all the information . ‘ Eating a handful of nuts or four tablespoons of olive oil may be a more effective way at reducing risk of a heart attack , stroke or death and without the side effects. ’ Professor Peter Weissberg , Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation , said healthy patients prescribed statins to prevent heart disease should take the ‘ lowest possible dose ’ . He went on to warn that people with existing heart conditions should not stop taking the pills , saying : ‘ It is important that people taking statins because of existing cardiovascular disease should continue to take them as the benefits will outweigh the risks . ’
Stains are thought to prevent the hormone insulin from working properly . The risk has prompted fresh concern about the side effects of the pills . University of Eastern Finland studied more than 8,700 men aged last year . NHS recommended 45 to 73 that up to 17million adults should be on statins to prevent heart attacks and strokes .