DH has been told by GP to go on statins as blood sugar is high, anyone got any advice?

[Overseasmom100]

DH 59 Had a well man check and bloods taken. GP called to say blood sugars are high to change diet go low carb and prescribed statins??? Nurse will call this week to discuss as could turn into type2 diabeties.

He didnt ask any questions and is now panicking!!! Anyone got any advice on what these statins are and how else he can change his lifestyle.

Aren’t staying connected to high cholesterol rather than blood sugar?

Statins - sorry

Not sure he didnt ask much he said blood sugar levels were on the boarder line and needed to come down. Ive told him to write a list of questions down to ask the nurse

Im now wondering if he's told me the truth.

My dad is on statins and I thought they were only for high cholesterol

Statins are for high cholesterol. Insulin is to do with blood sugar.

It's possible that if he is "pre diabetic" they are being proactive in managing his cholesterol too. The "triad" of high sugars, high blood pressure & high cholesterol need managing together to prevent heart disease. Hopefully he will be closely monitored & things will be explained much better very soon - although should have been explained before treatment started.
Please note - I work in emergency medicine rather than primary care so happy for someone with more relevant experience to say I'm wrong

Statins are for cholesterol but are advised for diabetics at a far lower level levels than the rest of the population.

My cholesterol is normal but they aim for a lower level in diabetics so I was offered statins. My GP says they give them to far too many people.

Ask the nurse what his cholesterol levels are and then research for yourself whether he thinks he would benefit from them.

He is on tablets for high blood pressure already. Ummm I will speak to him later and help him draft up a list of questions to ask the nurse.

His diet certainly needs to change I tell him all the time. In fact this is why Im feeling slightly annoyed. He always waits for the worse before acting upon it. He has a very sweet tooth and eats alot of chocolate plus toast every morning ... sometimes 4 slices everyday!!!!

This does not mean they are not helpful to many. He needs to talk about why they are being recommended and would dietary changes alone be a better start. www.nhs.uk/news/medication/statins-do-not-work-half-people-prescribed-them-study-reports/

An American link that is easy to read.
www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-new-cholesterol-guidelines-what-you-need-to-know-2018112615422

My dh has just been diagnosed. With type 2 diabetes he's been put on metformin and a statin I assume his cholesterol is high too? This can be connected to lifestyle choices ,(I know not always before anyone shoots me!) So i it might be connected .

It sounds that he is borderline diabetic and has high cholesterol.
Dietary advice of a low carb diet sounds like a good plan. Accompanied with a high protein diet (abit like Keto diet) is known to reduce blood sugar levels.

chocolate plus toast every morning ... sometimes 4 slices everyday!!!!

I don't know much about Type 2, but I know about Type 1. Bread is lethal to sugar levels. It can elevate them faster and higher than chocolate. He needs to reduce carbs. Does he drink fruit juice? Toss that too. It's like drinking coke. Did he get a print out of his results? You could get a glucose testing machine and he could do fasting blood sugar first thing in morning, an hour after meals. If his sugars are consistently high? He should return to the doctor.

OP,
As others have said, statins are not about blood sugar, they are about cholesterol. It sounds like his blood results are showing elevated sugar and elevated cholesterol. The long term effects of uncontrolled high blood sugar are pretty grim. But the good news is if he reboots his diet and exercise, he can reduce his current results.

He needs to change his diet and reverse it ..

Boarderline diabetic and high cholestral he thinks he's writing a list of questions for the nurse. He already has high blood pressure and mother had a couple of heart attacks and a stroke.

I would of thought they would let him change diet lifestyle first then if no changes to give statins

Yes changing hos food habits as of now...no white bread, cutting out the chocolate every night and beer cutting down.

Is he very overweight?

OP,
A really useful tip is everything you drink should be zero calories. Water with fresh lemon, tea with no sugar etc. If he is drinking lots of sugar as well as eating lots of bread, it might be tough at first. But it will make a noticeable difference.

Not in medicine, but just wanted to point you to the Michael Moseley blood sugar diet and Diet Doctor low carb diet. Also look up foods on the glycemic index asap. Both diets have supportive threads on MN. The first thing to do in my opinion, is to make a shopping list of new foods and remove high GI foods from the kitchen. Everyone in the family will benefit from eating low GI foods (read about inflammation/metabolic disorder and Covid-19). So there's no need to tempt him by keeping sweet "treats" in for the rest of the family. If you start to view sugar and processed carbs as something which is making him very unwell, you won't want it in the house. He could look at intermittent fasting to speed positive results with low GI/keto.
He can turn this around OP.

It would be better if he gave up beer altogether rather than cut down, it's full of sugar. Gin and sugar free tonic would be a better alcoholic drink, or vodka and diet lemonade.

A diabetic man is five times more likely to have a stroke or heart attack by virtue of being diabetic alone (it's worse for women!) High blood pressure, cholesterol and family history compounds the risk so it's really worth trying to lose weight etc to try and reverse his prediabetes. Most diabetics are on statins regardless of co-morbidities because of this.
He needs to ask what his q risk is (ten year risk of cardiovascular disease), guidelines generally advise a statin to anyone with a risk over 10%, although this is a contentious issue.
DH is on a statin. He runs, is not overweight and eats well and his sugar is fine, but his LDL cholesterol is really high, no amount of lifestyle changes will alter this. It's hereditary. HIgh triglycerides (also bad fats) respond better to lifestyle efforts. He needs to ask for the breakdown of his lipid profile.

If you start to view sugar and processed carbs as something which is making him very unwell, you won't want it in the house. He could look at intermittent fasting to speed positive results with low GI/keto. He can turn this around OP

Agree with all of this. Bin all the processed food. I would bin bread too. And definitely fruit juice.

Yes changing hos food habits as of now...no white bread, cutting out the chocolate every night and beer cutting down

A low carb high fat diet is no bread of any colour, no chocolate and no beer. Can he swap his tipple to gin or whiskey ?

This is past the stage of making a few tweaks to his existing diet, radical change is required if he’s to turn around this prognosis.

Your Dh needs to read up on this. The books that @DianaT1969 are great.

Most diabetics are on statins regardless of co-morbidities because of this

I think it's quite important to distinguish between Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 is not related to being overweight, it's an auto immune disorder. It is possible to be Type 1 and to only be on insulin. That requires discipline and hard work. But it is possible. The thing about the trifecta of 'bad' results for type 2 ( blood pressure/blood sugar/ cholesterol) is they can be greatly improved by diet changes. Good luck OP, I hope he takes steps to improve his results.