Death risk increased 60 per cent by diabetes drug

Fri, 04 Dec 2009
According to diabetes news reports, a class of diabetes drug could increase the risk of death by between 24% and 61%, as well as increasing heart failure by 30%. The report was published by the British Medical Journal, and concerned the diabetes drug group called sulphonylureas.

According to the report, the warning only applies to those people that take the drugs alone, not to those that combine with metformin . Sulphonylureas include some widely prescribed forms of diabetes drugs, including: glibenclamide, gliclazide, glimerpirizide, glipizide, and gliquidone.

Lead researcher Dr. Ioanna Tzoulaki of Imperial College London reportedly commented: "When we looked at metformin and sulphonylureas together we didn’t see an increased risk of heart failure or death. This might be because the sulphonylureas dose used when it is in combination with metformin is not as high as on its own, so you might not see the effect. It is also possible that metformin could be protective. Other studies looking at the drugs together have been inconclusive. It’s very important that people do not stop taking their medication as a result of this study."

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