Avandia, Diabetes Drug, May Cause Problems

Avandia (rosiglitazone), a medication for people with type 2 diabetes, has been the subject of studies evaluating its safety and the results aren’t what Glaxo (the manufacturer) had hoped for. According to researchers in Toronto, Canada, elderly people who take Avandia may have an increased risk of heart failure and death.

The researchers didn’t, however, find the same results that American researchers found two years earlier, which suggested that Avandia also increased the risk of heart attacks. The Canadian researchers found no difference between patients who took Avandia and another type of medication, Actos (pioglitazone), and the rate of heart attacks among them

The researchers studied 40,000 patients over the age of 65 who took Avandia or Actos. For every 93 patients, there was one more heart “event” or death each year among those who took Avandia.

This being said, this doesn’t mean that Avandia shouldn’t be used to treat type 2 diabetes. The results show that perhaps it shouldn’t be prescribed for people who are in high risk groups or who have heart disease already.

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