Glucocorticoid Steroids Increase the Risk of Diabetes

Patients who are treated with systemic glucocorticoid steroids are more than twice as likely to develop diabetes, according to a study being presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Madrid, Spain, September 9-13.

Glucocorticoids combat inflammation and are used to treat a wide range of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, including asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, cancers and other medical problems. While these steroids can be very effective in decreasing inflammation, glucocorticoids are known to have many adverse effects including increasing blood sugar levels and causing diabetes. These side effects are more likely when people use glucortricoid tablets or injections than when used as inhalers, creams or drops.

In this novel study, conducted by the Diabetes Trials Unit, University of Oxford’s Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Oxford, UK, researhers investigated how commonly patients being treated with glucocorticoids can develop new-onset diabetes. The study comprised 451,606 adults (median age 52 years, 55% female, 69% White) who were admitted to the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust between 1 January 2013 and 1 October 2023. The entire population were free from diabetes at the start of the study and none were taking systemic glucocorticoids.

Study leader Dr Rajna Golubic, said via a press release: “Existing information on how much more common new diabetes is in patients treated with glucocorticoids is based on small studies including patients with one or a few conditions. We wanted to expand the data to get a more accurate idea of how likely it is that people could develop diabetes while being treated with these drugs.”

The analysis found that patients receiving systemic glucocorticoids were more than twice as likely (2.6 times) to develop diabetes as those not receiving the treatment. Dr. Golubic says: “These latest results give clinical staff a better estimate of how likely new diabetes is to occur and could prompt doctors to plan clinical care more effectively to detect and manage new diabetes.