Heart risk from two diabetes drugs

The recent media controversy over diabetic drugs that cause fluid retention and potentially double the risk of heart failure has spread to the UK. Data from 78,000 diabetics indicates that both rosiglitazone and pioglitazone offered dangers as well as benefits.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia linked fluid retention and the drugs. Their report, published in the journal Diabetes Care, means a re-think of these drugs by the regulatory authorities is a virtual certainty.
Both drugs are popular in the UK, with over 1.5 million prescriptions written last year, and have doubled in the last three years.
The head researcher on the study, Dr. Loke, reportedly commented: “This means that the diabetes drugs could have caused thousands of additional cases of heart failure, creating a substantial burden on hard-pressed NHS services.”