Diabetes drugs double risk of heart failure

Millions of diabetics worldwide face an increased threat of cardiac problems after two drugs commonly prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes were found to double the risk of heart failure, according to researchers in the US and Britain.

One in every 50 patients taking either Avandia or Actos over a 26-month period would suffer heart failure and need admission to hospital, says the research by experts at the University of East Anglia and in America.

The researchers said the drugs could be responsible for additional thousands of cases of heart failure each year, Reuters reported.

Dr Yoon Loke, the author of the analysis, which looked at more than 200 cases of heart failure while on the drugs, said that diabetics are at a two per cent per year greater risk of heart failure and the drugs add another two per cent.

 

 

According to GlaxoSmithKline, hundreds of thousands of people are on its drug Avandia (rosiglitazone). Actos (pioglitazone), which is made by Takeda, is also used by a similar number of diabetics.

Alert issued

Rosiglitazone was linked to heart attacks by research published earlier this year and the UAE Ministry of Health issued a drug alert to all hospitals, clinics and pharmacies in the country conveying the warning.

According to GlaxoSmithKline, the drug is among its best-sellers here. Humaid Al Shamsi, assistant under-secretary at the ministry, earlier told Gulf News that doctors had been advised to discuss Avandia's safety with patients prescribed the drug.

The UAE has an estimated 820,000 diabetics or 20 per cent of the population, which works out to be the second-highest number of diabetes worldwide. According to experts, 65 per cent of the population will be diabetic in three years.

The Daily Telegraph quoted Dr Yoon Loke, the author of the analysis which looked at more than 200 cases of heart failure while on the drugs, as saying that diabetics are at a two per cent per year greater risk of heart failure and the drugs add another two per cent.

The researchers suggested that fluid retention caused by the drugs may be to blame, BBC Online reported. Writing in Diabetes Care, they called for a rethink on the drugs by respective regulatory authorities.

The manufacturers' information leaflets, though, say the drugs should not be used in patients known to have heart failure.