Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Men Receiving Steroid 5α-Reductase Inhibitors: Population-Based Cohort Study

April 2019 in “ BMJ. British medical journal ”

Li Wei, Edward Chia Cheng Lai, Yea Huei Kao-Yang, Brian R. Walker, Thomas M. MacDonald, Ruth Andrew

steroid 5α-reductase inhibitors dutasteride finasteride benign prostatic hyperplasia tamsulosin type 2 diabetes androgenic alopecia Propecia Avodart Flomax

TLDR Men taking dutasteride or finasteride have a slightly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The study investigated the incidence of new onset type 2 diabetes in men treated with steroid 5α-reductase inhibitors (dutasteride or finasteride) for benign prostatic hyperplasia, using data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database. It included 8,231 men on dutasteride, 30,774 on finasteride, and 16,270 on tamsulosin in the CPRD, and 1,251 on dutasteride, 4,194 on finasteride, and 86,263 on tamsulosin in the NHIRD. The study found a modestly increased risk of type 2 diabetes for dutasteride (adjusted hazard ratio 1.32) and finasteride (1.26) compared to tamsulosin, with consistent results across both databases. The findings suggest that men on 5α-reductase inhibitors may need additional monitoring for type 2 diabetes, especially those with other risk factors.

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Research cited in this study

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