RESEARCH - Avandia and Actos may double the risk of fractures in women

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2 Diabetes Drugs Double Fracture Risk in Women

By Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

Wednesday, December 10, 2008; 12:00 AM

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Two widely prescribed diabetes

drugs, Avandia and Actos, double the risk of fractures in women but

not in men, a new British analysis finds.

Avandia (rosiglitazone) and Actos (pioglitazone) are used to lower

blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes. Recent studies have

suggested that the risk for heart failure, death and heart attack were

increased with Avandia, touching off a controversy that resulted in

new U.S. Food and Drug Administration-mandated label warnings about

the drug.

" Women who are taking these drugs should reconsider the options, " said

lead researcher Dr. Yoon Loke, a clinical senior lecturer at the

University of East Anglia in Norwich. " There are quite a lot of

choices for women with type 2 diabetes. I am not sure that taking a

drug that causes fractures is the best choice. "

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/10/AR2008121001206.\

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