Diabetes drugs 'can double risk of heart failure' - Telegraph

Diabetes drugs 'can double risk of heart failure' - Telegraph

Diabetes drugs 'can double risk of heart failure'

By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 27/07/2007

Half a million diabetics could be at double the risk of heart failure because of the drugs they are taking.

	In Britain, 250,000 people are on Avianda

A question mark has been raised over the safety of Avandia and Actos, which are used to treat type 2 diabetes, by a study. Researchers say they could be responsible for an additional 5,000 cases of heart failure each year.

One in every 50 patients taking the medication over a 26-month period would suffer heart failure and need admission to hospital, says the research by experts at the University of East Anglia and in America.

According to GlaxoSmithKline, 250,000 people are on its drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) in Britain and the same number on Actos (pioglitazone), which is made by Takeda. Both have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).

Dr Yoon Loke, the author of the analysis, which looked at more than 200 cases of heart failure while on the drugs, said the risk was small, but when the fact that 500,000 people use them is taken into account, there could be an additional 5,000 cases of heart failure per year.

Americans cheer SiCKO, but not all convinced | U.S. | Reuters

Americans cheer SiCKO, but not all convinced | U.S. | Reuters: "By Andrea Hopkins

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Fresh from the hospital and still hurting from a $757 prescription drug bill, moviegoer Ron Jackson emerged from a screening of Michael Moore's documentary on the U.S. health system feeling outraged and exuberant.

'It's a great movie,' said Jackson, 63. 'I have insurance, and I still paid over $700 for one prescription -- just 30 days' worth. They've let Wall Street control the whole thing, it's as plain as the nose on my face.'

Weeks into the staggered release of Moore's 'SiCKO' across the United States, moviegoing Americans have revived the debate over national health care -- a staple in most of the developed world, but long resisted in the United States.

Health-care reform is a hot topic in the 2008 presidential campaign, and a slew of candidates have promised changes to bring better care to both insured Americans and the nation's 45 million uninsured.

Atia Huff, 64, said she was heartened by the applause that broke out at the end of the movie but worried only those who already agreed with Moore's outlook would bother to attend.

'I think it's preaching to the choir,' Huff said.

Moore won an Academy Award for 2002's anti-gun documentary 'Bowling for Columbine.' He made more enemies -- and drew the label 'enemy"

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