Type of Drug For Diabetes Can Cause Heart Failure

A new study published in the
current issue of The Lancet
Diabetes and Endocrinology has
examined that the type of glucose or sugar-
lowering medications prescribed
to patients with diabetes may increased risk for the
development of heart failure in
these patients.

The study was conducted at American
College of Cardiology and examined
clinical trials of more than 95,000
patients and found that for every
one kilogram increase in weight as a result of sugar-lowering
diabetes medication or strategy,
there was seven
per cent increased risk of heart
failure directly linked to that
medication or strategy.

Dr. Jacob Udell, the study's
principal investigator, and
cardiologist at the Peter Munk
Cardiac Centre, University Health
Network (UHN) and Women's
College Hospital (WCH), said that
patients randomized to new or
more intensive blood sugar-
lowering drugs or strategies to
manage diabetes often showed an
overall 14 per cent increased risk
for heart failure directly
associated with the type of
diabetes therapy that was
chosen, as some drugs cause heart failure than
others, compared with placebo
or standard care.
Dr. Barry Rubin, Medical Director,
Peter Munk Cardiac Centre,
University Health Network (UHN),
asserted that the results of this
study could prove to be the
catalyst for how diabetes
patients at risk for heart disease
were managed.

It must be noted that heart failure is a common
occurrence for patients with type
2 diabetes and a major determinant of one's life expectancy
and quality of life and
healthcare costs.