Some younger diabetics disease would benefit from statin use, a new study suggests.

Researchers wanted to learn if the cholesterol-lowering drugs would help prevent heart attacks and strokes in diabetics with the Type 1 form of the disease. Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 10 percent of all diabetics and generally occurs at younger ages than Type 2, which is often caused by obesity.

Current guidelines recommend statins after age 40 for essentially all diabetes patients and support possible use for younger people with cardiovascular disease risk factors.

The Scottish study looked at 517 people under age 45 without pre-existing heart disease, following them for 15 years. One cardiovascular event occurred in 20-to-29 year-olds, 18 for those in their 30s, and 22 for those in their early 40s.

The researchers concluded that young people 30 to 39 years old were at high enough cardiovascular risk to warrant statin therapy.

The study was presented at the annual American Diabetes Association meeting in Boston.