To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: Thiazolidinediones May Increase Fracture Risk
URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2204C6.htm
Doctor's Guide
April 28, 2008

CHICAGO -- April 28, 2008 -- A widely used class of diabetes medications appears to be associated with an increased risk for fractures, according to a report in the April 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

"The insulin-sensitizing thiazolidinediones are a relatively new and effective class of oral antidiabetic agents that have gained wide use in clinical conditions characterized by insulin resistance," the authors write as background information in the article. Two drugs in this category, pioglitazone and rosiglitazone, account for 21% of oral diabetes medications prescribed in the United States and 5% of those in Europe. Recent studies have suggested that these therapies may have unfavourable effects on bone, resulting in slower bone formation and faster bone loss.

Christian Meier, MD, Consultant, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Clinical Nutrition, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland, and colleagues studied 1,020 patients with diabetes who had fractures diagnosed at British general practitioners' offices between 1994 and 2005. For each of those patients, up to 4 control patients with diabetes who were the same age and sex and had the same physician but did not have fractures were selected, for a total of 3,728 matched controls.

After adjusting for other risk factors, individuals who were currently taking rosiglitazone and pioglitazone had approximately double or triple the odds of hip and other nonspine fractures compared with those who did not take these drugs. The odds for fracture were increased among patients who took the drugs for approximately 12 to 18 months, and the risk was highest for those with 2 or more years of therapy.

"This analysis provides further evidence of a possible association between long-term use of thiazolidinediones and fractures, particularly of the hip and wrist, in patients with diabetes mellitus," the authors conclude. "No such effect was seen for other antidiabetic drugs in this study population. These findings, although they are consistent with recently reported data from a randomised trial, are based on relatively few thiazolidinedione-exposed patients and need to be confirmed by additional observational studies and by controlled clinical trials."

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet*
located at http://www.docguide.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Return to News Story Page

This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com
Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs.
All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc.
All rights reserved.