Posted on 09/17/2006 6:57:42 PM PDT by neverdem
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The largest diabetes prevention study ever done has found that a drug already used to treat the disease also can help keep "pre-diabetics" from developing it. But many experts say losing weight and exercising remain a safer, cheaper approach.
The drug, rosiglitazone, or Avandia, appeared to cut the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by more than half, doctors reported Friday. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes, afflicting more than 200 million people worldwide.
Avandia also helped restore normal blood-sugar function in many of those who took it.
A second part of the study found that a different drug, a blood pressure medication called ramipril, or Altace, made no difference in the risk of developing diabetes but helped normalize blood sugar for some.
The research was long awaited, and the Avandia results at first glance seem impressive. However, experts say it is difficult to determine how much of the improvement was the owing to the drug, because study volunteers also were counseled about healthy diets and lifestyles.
"We know that lifestyle changes alone can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by up to 58 percent," said Dr. Martin Abrahamson, medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, who had no ties to the study.
Those benefits come without the $90- to $170-a-month cost and side effects of Avandia, said Dr. Alvin Powers, director of diabetes research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who also had no role in the research.
"Fluid retention, congestive heart failure, and weight gain are known side effects of Avandia" when it's used to treat diabetes, Powers noted.
Results of the study were reported Friday at a diabetes meeting in Denmark. The Avandia findings were published online by the British medical journal The Lancet; the Altace results were posted online by the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was paid for by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and companies that make the drugs. (GlaxoSmithKline PLC makes Avandia; Sanofi-Aventis SA and King Pharmaceuticals market Altace.) Some study leaders consult for the companies.
The aim was preventing Type 2 diabetes, the form that is linked to obesity and sometimes leads to kidney failure, amputations and death. It occurs when the body does not make enough insulin or cannot effectively use what it manages to produce.
Research suggests that as many as half of pre-diabetics develop diabetes within three years.
Still, some doctors were encouraged by Avandia's potential.
"This underscores the fact that diabetes is preventable, and that we might have another means to do that with," said Dr. Peter Sheehan, director of diabetes at the Cabrini Medical Center in New York, who had no ties to the study.
Dr. Jeffrey Probstfield, a University of Washington professor who led the U.S. portion of the study, said he would advise pre-diabetics to try the drug.
"I'm a strict adherent to the lifestyle approach," but the drug adds one more tool people can use to avoid a deadly and disabling disease, he said.
Heart Attack Patient Dies In ER Waiting Room- Ruled a Homicide
Patients with painless Acute Coronary Syndrome tended to be older, were more often women, and more often had diabetes and prior heart attacks. It may be that prior heart damage impairs pain perception due to disruption of sensory receptors, and that diabetes impairs pain perception, suggests Harry P. Selker, M.D., M.S.P.H., of the Tufts-New England Medical Center.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
"Fluid retention, congestive heart failure, and weight gain are known side effects of Avandia" when it's used to treat diabetes, Powers noted.
At first, it sounded promising...
And other studies show that ARBs (angiotensin receptor blockers) are a part of a cure for diabetes, but only part.
Exercise....carrots instead of Butterfingers?
Dr Ron Rosedale MD ?
I glanced at the thread. I didn't notice anything about ARBs. After looking, I found Single versus dual blockade of the renin-angiotensin system (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and/or angiotensin II receptor blockers) in diabetic nephropathy.
"RECENT FINDINGS: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are now a first-line therapy for patients with type 1 diabetes and diabetic nephropathy, whereas in patients with type 2 diabetes, angiotensin II receptor blockers(ARBs) have been shown to protect the kidney." Type 2 Diabetics, heads up.
The effect on blood sugar makes more sense when you appreciate steroid hormones are involved as in the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System.
No. Thanks for the link.
At first, it sounded promising...
I forgot to mention ramipril is just the ticket for congestive heart failure, the salient feature of which is fluid retention and weight gain, regardless of etiology.
Personally, go diet and exercise first. The editorial agrees with me. BTW, adverse effects don't happen to everyone, but they might happen to anyone due to genetic predisposition.
INHO, the Omega 3's and Vitamin D will end up being the superstar nutrition discoveries of the century.
There is a third... that is still undergoing alot of testing. A very simple mineral that most of us are deficient in.
Magnesium.
Look further around the site. The marshall protocol uses an ARB (benicar to be exact) plus antibiotics.
Just went to the manufacturer's reports ~ that's always the best source.
Fatty fish are good sources.
I started having trouble again this year in early August ~ just as the fresh peppers were coming on the market. I usually pig-out on cheap, fresh peppers.
Had that problem the last couple of Sumers in fact. So, I cut out the peppers and was able to bring my blood sugar back into line within a couple of days.
Remember, lots of Type IIs have lower than normal insulin product, so loss of any of it other causes has to cause problems.
I'll think of another advantage someday, Fur Shur.
Enough said!
What all of us do is deal with the symptoms ~
Can't recall when I had a soda, but I do recall the last time I walked a mile ~ like it was yesterday.
Gonna' do that today, too, and the day after that.
I hope you were kidding. That's usually what's just in the Physician's Desk Reference which isn't much more than a compilation of product information slips printed for initial FDA approval. A hard copy of AHFS Drug Information can often be had for free, just last year's version, if you ask a hospital pharmacist after the start of the new year.
http://www.ashp.org/ahfs/print/ahfs-di.cfm
IMHO, the next best is DRUG FACTS AND COMPARISONS (LOOSE-LEAF)
That's interesting. Maybe because it isn't true?
My Cerner-Multum Clinical Database shows no major or moderate interaction between metformin and rosiglitazone. In fact, in the rosiglitazone monograph, they say:
"Rosiglitazone is indicated as monotherapy. The drug is also indicated for use in combination with a sulfonylurea or metformin when diet, exercise, and rosiglitazone alone or diet, exercise and the single agent do not result in adequate glycemic control. For patients inadequately controlled with a maximum dose of a sulfonylurea or metformin, rosiglitazone should be added to, rather than substituted for, a sulfonylurea or metformin." [Emphasis mine]
Damn, naming Facts just gave away the secret to the pharmacists' secret weapon. [grin]
That's how it lowers blood sugars, by preventing the GI tract from absorbing sugars. So, the drug worked in your child. Everything comes at a cost or compromise; inthis case the squirts. Such is Life.
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