Diabetes Medication Linked to Heart Disease

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – A type of diabetes medication increases an older person’s risk of a heart attack, congestive heart failure and death, according to new research. The class of medication is known as thiazolidinediones (TZDs).

TZDs are oral hypoglycemic medicines that are used to treat type 2 diabetes. TZDs have been shown to improve glycemic control. But some research has shown that the two TZDs called rosiglitazone and pioglitazone may increase the risk of heart problems. The FDA conducted a hearing determining if rosiglitazone should be removed from the market, but decided there was not enough sufficient evidence to remove it.

The new research was conducted by doctors at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto. Researchers compared the risk of congestive heart failure, heart attack and death associated with TZDs compared with other oral hypoglecemic drugs in patients 66 years or older with diabetes. They analyzed data from more than 159,000 patients.

Study authors report compared to those who took other hypoglycemic drugs, those who used a TZD had a 60 percent increased risk of congestive heart failure. They also had a 40 percent increased risk of heart attack and had a 29 percent risk of death. The increased risks were associated with specifically the use of rosiglitazone.

Researchers say these findings provide further evidence that this class of medication may cause more harm than good. They say further studies are needed to see if it’s the class of drugs or just rosiglitazone.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007;298:2634-2643

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