Avandia News

Heart risk of diabetes drugs

-BMJ Group

01/21/2009- Two medicines used to treat people with diabetes can increase the risk of serious side effects, new research has found.

What do we know already?

Rosiglitazone (brand name Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos) are medicines for type 2 diabetes. This kind of diabetes tends to affect people later in life, usually after 40. Diabetes means you have too much glucose in your blood and this can cause health problems. Diet and exercise can help control your glucose levels at first, but many people eventually need to take tablets.

Rosiglitazone and pioglitazone tend to be used once other drugs have stopped working or are unsuitable. Previous studies looking at these two drugs have shown that they increase people's risk of heart failure. Researchers have now gone through all the studies so far, to give the most reliable picture yet of the side effects.

What do the new studies say?

The new studies found that with both rosiglitazone and pioglitazone there is a risk of serious heart problems. Rosiglitazone has the most worrying side effects. It may cause heart attacks, or stop your heart working properly (this is called heart failure). People who weren't taking rosiglitazone had an 8 in 1000 chance of getting heart failure. For people who took it, the risk was 16 in 1000.

The individual risk of a heart attack, though, depends on your age and how healthy you are. For people under 57 in good health, the risk is smaller. Rosiglitazone would cause one heart attack for every 822 people taking it. The risk is bigger for people who already have a history of heart problems. For people taking rosiglitazone who are under 65, and who've already had one heart attack, 1 in 74 people would have another.

Pioglitazone also increases people's risk of heart failure. The studies report that about 23 in 1000 people taking pioglitazone got heart failure, compared with only 18 in 1000 people who had a different treatment. But this drug also has other benefits. The study found that while they were taking pioglitazone, people were slightly less likely to die, have a heart attack or have a stroke. So doctors and their patients have to weigh up the benefits against the risks.

Where do the studies come from?

Both of the studies appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The rosiglitazone study was done by researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, in North Carolina, and the University of East Anglia. The study on pioglitazone was done by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

What does this mean for me?

If you have diabetes type 2, the risks of side effects from rosiglitazone or pioglitazone depend on how healthy your heart is to begin with. If you're fit and well, and haven't had heart problems before, your risk may still be low even if you take one of these drugs. For people who already have heart problems or might get them in the future, the risks of these treatments may outweigh the benefits.

You are more at risk of heart problems if you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, are overweight or if you smoke.

In the UK, rosiglitazone or pioglitazone are only recommended if you've already tried to control your diabetes through diet and exercise, and if other drugs have stopped working. They're not recommended at all for people with heart problems.

What should I do now?

If you're taking rosiglitazone or pioglitazone for type 2 diabetes, it's important you don't stop taking them suddenly. But you may wish to talk to your doctor about your treatment at your next routine appointment.

If you or a loved one have experienced an Avandia heart attack, or Avandia stroke, Avandia congestive heart failure, Avandia cardiovascular disease or if you have lost a loved one to an Avandia death you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the Avandia lawyers of Ennis & Ennis, P.A. today about an Avandia lawsuit. Call us toll free for a free, confidential case evaluation or fill out our online Avandia case evaluation form