It Is Better To Keep Cholesterol In Check As I Have Prediabetes?

Posted on Thu, 29 Aug 2024

Question: I have HBA1C at 7.0 and it was 6.4 a year ago. My Dr still says it is prediabetes and does not need metformin kind of medication. I do take Pravastatin 40MG per day and Cholesterol is at 170. My Dr says to continue Pravastatin - even though recently my early morning blood sugar is now 115 (it used to e 99). My question is, does Pravastatin cause spikes in blood sugar over time and result in full diabetes? My Dr says it is better to keep Cholesterol in check as I have prediabetes.

Answered by Dr. Shyam B. Kale (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
HbA1c level 7 indicates diabetes. Please see detailed answer below.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

I have gone through your query and here is my advice.

Pravastatin is a moderate intensity statin. As per few studies, in only 10 to 20 percent cases long term use of tablet pravastatin had shown rise in blood sugar levels but it's not statistically proved. So use of tablet pravastatin and rise in blood sugar levels showed non significant trend. So I would suggest to continue tablet pravastatin as advised.

In pre-diabetes stage, usually Hba1c level is between 5.6 to 6.4.

As per your history, HbA1c level of 7 indicates diabetes. So Though fasting sugar level is 115, as per HbA1c level, I would suggest you to start tablet metformin SR 500 mg after physician consultation.

Along with that, kindly follow diabetic diet and daily 30 to 40 mins of aerobic or cardio exercise. Try to reduce weight if obese.

Hope I have answered your query. Please let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Shyam

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng