DEAR DR. ROACH: I was diagnosed with prediabetes over 30 years ago. My parents had diabetes. I just turned 84, and my weight is 135 pounds. I am 5 feet and 3.5 inches tall.

I watch my diet and take four blood pressure pills, and my blood pressure is under control. My cholesterol is very low (my total cholesterol is 130 mg/dL) since I’ve been on 20 mg of simvastatin for over 30 years. I take berberine and other supplements to help keep my A1C level between 6.1% to 6.4%. I prefer not to add more medicine.

I also take bitter melon, alpha-lipoic acid, chromium, cinnamon, gymnema, and other supplements like vitamin D3, zinc and B12. What is your opinion? — E.G.

ANSWER: It sounds like what you are doing is working since you haven’t developed diabetes. However, I can’t make any definitive statements on whether it’s one or more of your supplements that’s helping or whether it’s your healthy weight for your height.

Supplements are medicines. You are taking them, it seems, specifically to help prevent the development of diabetes. Of all the ones you mention, the one with the strongest evidence of benefit is vitamin D, which may help people with high-risk prediabetes develop overt diabetes. The Endocrine Society recently published a guideline recommending it specifically for this purpose.

While I can find influencers and marketers who will tell you that these are all very helpful, the clinical trials on these tend to follow a pattern. Small trials suggest a large benefit, but larger and more rigorous studies show a much smaller benefit (or none). None of them are harmful in recommended doses, but I do think you may be wasting your money.

You haven’t talked about your diet and exercise habits, which are probably the most critical for long-term prevention of diabetes. While 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily is a good rule of thumb for most people, if you want personalized information, you can talk to a diabetes educator or bring in a detailed food diary to a registered dietician/nutritionist. Both can help you sort out the truth from fiction and make recommendations. It’s a good investment.

DEAR DR. ROACH: In a recent column you indicated that ” … research suggests lipophilic statins may worsen memory.” I take 5 mg of atorvastatin daily, which is one that’s on the lipophilic list.

I checked with my medical provider who requested and received the following response from the pharmacist: “In theory, the lipophilic statin could have more potential for side effects, including memory loss. However, in clinical practice, the risk is still present in both, and [the] selection of statin is typically not of concern.”

The pharmacist went on to suggest that should I have a memory loss concern, rosuvastatin — a hydrophilic statin — would be a fine choice. My questions are whether you agree, and do I need to switch? — D.M.

ANSWER: The risk of memory loss is low with any statin, but when it happens, it is much more likely in a lipophilic statin like atorvastatin than a hydrophilic one like rosuvastatin. For this reason, I typically start my patients who chose a statin on rosuvastatin.

However, if a person has been doing fine on their current statin, I don’t switch them.

Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu. (c) 2025 North America Syndicate Inc. All Rights Reserved