12/04/07
Diabetes Medications
All drugs have side effects. With some medications we don't often find out until after a few million people have used a product, while with others we eventually discover serious side-effects.
For Avandia it is more bad news this week as researchers from Salk Institute for Biological Studies report new evidence that some people taking Avandia lose bone mass at a rate faster than average.
As adults age they generally lose bit of bone mass, or bone density. Diabetics generally lose more bone mass than their non-diabetic counterparts.
Just a year ago Avandia appeared to be a diabetes wonder drug. People who used it generally gained significant control over their blood sugar. However, increased risk of heart problems among Avandia users have caused many patients to switch to other medications.
Several studies support the theory that people who take Avandia have more heart attacks. So far there is just one study suggesting it might cause bone loss. Certainly more diabetes mellitus medication studies will be needed to further explore this theory.
Source:
Associated Press, December 2007
