Older people who are overweight are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes following the initiation of statins, the first detailed population-based study of the link suggests.

The findings have led Dutch researchers to urge doctors to use “rigorous prevention strategies” around diet and exercise to help prevent these patients from developing the disease.

The study followed 9000 people in the general population, with a mean age of 64, for up to 15 years to see if they were diagnosed with diabetes.   

They found current users of statins were 52% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those not on the drugs.