Diabetes Drugs Linked to Heart Failure

Amy Rothschild

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It was just reported that two of the most widely used drugs to treat diabetes and which were taken by thousands of overweight people in the United Kingdom last year, are causing widespread heart failure. The use of the drugs including Avandia and Actos has increased two fold in the last three years as a result of the increasing problem of obesity. The United Kingdom recently reported that in 2006, 1.8 million prescription for these drugs were written in their country. One in every 50 patients taking the drugs Avandia and Actos over a period of 26 months will have to be hospitalized for heart failure. A diabetes care journal reported that these drugs double the risk of heart failure even in those with no history of heart problems.

Concerns about the safety of the drug were triggered in May when a leading US cardiologist published evidence of a link to heart attacks and death. The manufacturers strongly contested the cardioligist's study in the New England Journal of Medicine. This evidence, however, will add immediacy to a special meeting of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which was already scheduled for Monday to discuss the safety of the drugs which are taken by 7 million people in the US.

Alastair Benbow, European medical director for GlaxoSmithKline, said of the study: "It is well recognised that the class of drug can cause fluid retention. It is wholly different from the issue raised previously about heart attacks and cardiovascular deaths." He said the fluid retention issue could be taken care of if the patient was closely monitored and prescribed diuretics. Even heart failure could be treated in hospital. "What is missing here is the benefit these drugs provide." The drugs kept blood sugar levels low, preventing serious effects of the disease such as blindness and amputations, he said.

Takeda, manufacturers of Actos, last night declined to comment.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Drugs, Medical Devices, and Implants.