| February
22,
2007
Diabetes Drug May Up Bone Fractures
More Fractures Seen in Women Taking Avandia, Avandamet, or Avandaryl
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
on Thursday, February 22, 2007
Feb. 22, 2007 -- Women taking the diabetes drugs Avandia, Avandamet,
or Avandaryl may be more likely to fracture their bones than
those using other diabetes drugs.
That's according to the FDA
and GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Avandia, Avandamet, and Avandaryl.
Those three drugs share the same active
ingredient: rosiglitazone.
Doctors should consider fracture risk
when treating diabetic women with Avandia, Avandamet, or Avandaryl,
advises the FDA
and GlaxoSmithKline, a WebMD sponsor.
GlaxoSmithKline notified
doctors of the possible risk in a letter dated February 2007.
That letter is posted on the FDA's web site.
It
explains that possible fracture risk surfaced in a study of
4,351 patients recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Patients
in the study were randomly assigned to take one of the following
diabetes drugs:
- Rosiglitazone, the key ingredient
in Avandia, Avandamet, and Avandaryl
- Metformin, which is sold generically and under the brand
name Glucophage
- Glyburide, sold generically and under the brand names
Diabeta and Micronase
Patients
were followed for four to six years as they took their assigned drugs.
During
that time, women taking rosiglitazone were more likely to have bone fractures
than women taking either metformin or glyburide.
This problem was not seen in
men taking rosiglitazone.
Most of the fractures seen
in the women taking rosiglitazone affected bones in
the upper arm, hand, or foot.
Bones often affected by osteoporosis (such as
the hip or spine) weren't more
likely to fracture in the women on rosiglitazone.
The study's findings are mirrored
in early results from another, ongoing study,
according to GlaxoSmithKline.
It's not yet known how the drugs affect women's
fracture risk, or how significant
the findings are for typical diabetes patients.
Further research is underway,
the drugmaker says. SOURCE: News release, FDA. GlaxoSmithKline letter
to Health Care Providers, February 2007. Source: www.medicinenet.com
Comment:
This study once again raises the question about the safety
of most widely used and heavily promoted prescription
drugs on the market. These medications are taken by
millions of people everyday. Recently there were similar
studies reported which showed that commonly prescribed
medications increase the risk for gastric ulcers, fractures,
heart diseases, etc. It is a known fact that many of
the medications deplete the body of critical nutrients
that are essential for proper functioning of numerous
cells in the body that regulate various metabolic events.
The pharmaceutical industry, in its quest to make profits,
chooses to ignore the side effects and the patients
are left to suffer. It is critical that people are
educated about the role of cellular nutrients and how
a healthy lifestyle can prevent many chronic diseases
- a mission which Dr. Rath has personally taken for
the benefit of the people of the world.
|
|
