Diabetes Drugs and Heart Failure

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Recent reports have raised the alarm on the increased risk of heart failure for patients taking Avandia (rosiglitazone), a medication prescribed to lower blood glucose levels in type-2 diabetics. A new study sheds more light on this issue.

Researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., report thiazolidinediones, a class of drugs that includes Avandia and Actos (pioglitazone), may double the risk of heart failure. Study authors report that over a 26-month period, for every 50 type-2 diabetes patients taking one of the thiazolidinediones, one additional patient would develop heart failure.

"These drugs are currently used by more than 3 million diabetic patients in the United States alone, suggesting that several thousand could be harmed," Sonal Singh, M.D., lead author, was reported as saying.

In a study reported earlier this year, Avandia was linked to increased risk of heart attack and death.

The Wake Forest researchers suggest fluid retention caused by the drugs may trigger heart failure in susceptible people. Exactly how much of the drugs a patient must take before increasing the risk of heart failure is unknown, though researchers report heart failure occurred equally among those taking high and low doses. Most people who developed heart failure did so at about 24 weeks after starting treatment. Also, it was not just the elderly patients experiencing this side effect. About 25 percent of the cases were patients younger than 60.

Study authors report they support the FDA's efforts to place a black box warning to packaging for medications in this class. They also recommend more research to uncover differences in the medications in this class.

The authors called for additional research to evaluate whether there are differences between thiazolidinediones and what the best course of treatment is for patients who develop heart failure while on the medications.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, 2007:30:2148-2153
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