Type2 Diabetes: Avandia deaths error by Lab.

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk Home Therapy not Avandia said to blame for trial deaths Reuters The popular diabetes drug Avandia did not cause higher rates of death in a study testing ways to prevent heart problems in high-risk diabetics, researchers said on Wednesday, who instead blamed overly aggressive therapy They said high-risk patients with type-2 diabetes who got intensive treatment to bring their blood sugar or glucose down to normal died at a higher rate than patients allowed higher blood sugar levels The researchers said they would adjust the trial, called ACCORD, so the blood sugar of patients would not be lowered so much The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which funded and helped organize the trial, stressed that all the patients in the study were less likely to die than similar type-2 diabetics in the general population Patients in one group were given aggressive treatment to lower their blood sugar levels -- a measure known as hemoglobin A1c -- to below 6 far below the current target of under 7

Avandia use can lead to brittle bones

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com The popular diabetes drug marketed as Avandia may increase bone thinning, a discovery that could help explain why diabetics can have an increased risk of fractures While bones seem solid, they constantly are being broken down and rebuilt by the body. Researchers found that in mice, the drug increased the activity of the cells that degrade bones, according to a report in this week’s online issue of Nature Medicine. Avandia recently was labelled with warnings about the risk of heart failure in some patients Nearly 21 million people in the United States have diabetes. Rosiglitazone is widely used in people with Type II, or adult onset diabetes, the most common form of the disease Evans said the discovery was fortuitous. Researchers were looking at different aspects of the diabetic mice and did not realize they would be able to change the bone-removing activity Test yourself Diabetes: How much do you know?

Green Tea--Beats Avandia for Diabetes, and No Deadly Side Effects

clipped from articles.mercola.com A compound in green tea, EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), works as well in moderately diabetic mice as GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia, according to researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute. In the study, 5-week-old moderately diabetic and severely diabetic mice were fed EGCG or given Avandia. After five and 10 weeks of treatment, the blood sugar and insulin levels of the mice were tested. Moderately diabetic mice did just as well on the green tea extract as they did on Severely diabetic mice did not benefit as much fromAvandia. EGCG. Researchers said the EGCG, though less potent than Avandia, “exerted changes that were similarly beneficial.” Dr. Mercola's Comments: However, it’s since come out that Avandia causes a 43 percent higher risk of heart attack, and possibly death. These are hefty risks for a drug designed to treat a disease that is virtually 100 percent curable with SIMPLE lifestyle changes (more on these later).

Green Tea--Beats Avandia for Diabetes, and No Deadly Side Effects

clipped from articles.mercola.com A compound in green tea, EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), works as well in moderately diabetic mice as GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia, according to researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute. In the study, 5-week-old moderately diabetic and severely diabetic mice were fed EGCG or given Avandia. After five and 10 weeks of treatment, the blood sugar and insulin levels of the mice were tested. Moderately diabetic mice did just as well on the green tea extract as they did on Avandia. Severely diabetic mice did not benefit as much from EGCG. Researchers said the EGCG, though less potent than Avandia, “exerted changes that were similarly beneficial.” Dr. Mercola's Comments: However, it’s since come out that Avandia causes a 43 percent higher risk of heart attack, and possibly death. These are hefty risks for a drug designed to treat a disease that is virtually 100 percent curable with SIMPLE lifestyle changes (more on these later).

Avandia, Actos get Heart Failure Warnings

clipped from www.fda.gov FDA ALERT [8/2007]: This Alert highlights important revisions to the full prescribing information for rosiglitazone maleate (marketed as Avandia, Avandamet, and Avandaryl). The updated information includes a new BOXED WARNING, and additional updated WARNINGS, PRECAUTIONS and CONTRAINDICATIONS to emphasize that rosiglitazone may cause or exacerbate heart failure, particularly in certain patient populations. The implications of this new labeling for healthcare professionals who prescribe Avandia, Avandamet, and Avandaryl are summarized below. This information reflects FDA’s current analysis of data available to FDA concerning this drug. FDA intends to update this sheet when additional information or analyses become available.

Not a surprise; this side effect is well-known for both of these drugs. Although laypeople often confuse heart failure and heart attacks, they are distinct. Heart failure is when the heart is chronically weak; heart attacks are when muscle tissue in the heart actually dies because it is starved of blood. So this is not the denouement of the Avandia controversy we've been watching for several months now. --Matt Herper