This blog tracks updates to the Blood Sugar 101 Web site.


Friday, June 19, 2009

Drug Makers Study Shows Avandia Odds of Serious Heart Failure Worse Than Russian Roulette

Page Changed: Actos and Avandia: Dangerous Diabetes Drugs

Added link to published study in the Lancet (reported previously at the ADA Scientific Sessions).

Rosiglitazone evaluated for cardiovascular outcomes in oral agent combination therapy for type 2 diabetes (RECORD): a multicentre, randomised, open-label trial. Philip D Home, et al. The Lancet, The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9681, Pages 2125 - 2135, 20 June 2009. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60953-3

This study found that the risk of "Heart failure causing admission to hospital or death" was much higher in people taking Avandia, and that the incidence of "Heart failure causing admission to hospital or death" was extremely high.

Sixty-one out of 321, or one out of every five people in this study who were taking Avandia, ended up in the hospital or dead thanks to heart failure. In the control group the incidence was 9 out of 100.

One in five is worse odds than Russian Roulette.

And this study was completely funded by the makers of Avandia.

Remember in reading this that Actos, the other TZD drug, has also been linked conclusively with causing heart failure in younger patients who had never shown signs of it before taking the drug.

Heart failure is a class effect of the TZD drugs and a very dangerous one.

I find it interesting that they lump "hospitalization and death" together rather than breaking out how many people died as a direct result of heart failure attributable to Avandia. You'd want to see how many deaths due to heart failure occurred in the control group and compare that number to the deaths from heart failure in the Avandia group.

But since the study was published by the drug maker, that is one data analysis you are not likely to see.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Confirmation of Causative Link of Avandia and Actos to Fractures and Heart Failure

Page Changed: Avandia and Actos: Dangerous Diabetes Drugs

Added information from three new studies, two presented at ADA and one described in Science News based on German publication which confirm these drugs double risk of heart failure and cause fractures in both men and women. The German study explains the underlying mechanism by which Avandia and Actos cause heart failure. Stimulating PPAR-gamma turns out to change the way the heart metabolises fats in a way that weakens heart muscle.

Health Clamis Database Suggests Byetta Doesn't Cause Pancreatitis

Page Changed: Byetta

Added information from Medco study presented at 2009 ADA sessions showing no increase in incidence of pancreatitis in a large population of those taking it compared to a huge population of controls.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Changed Layout

Pages changed: Most

I have tweaked the Blood Sugar 101 site page layout to put ads in a column down the side and below the text rather than at the top where there were a bit annoying. I've been meaning to do this for a while, but it required more code tweaking than I felt like doing until now, since this site runs on a site host that shares code with other customers.

Let me know if you run into any problems with page display that I might not have caught viewing the site on my computers.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Metastudy Documents Metabolic Advantages of Ketogenic Diets

Page Changed: Studies Studies Proving The Safety and Efficacy of the Low Carb Diet

Added link to metastudy published in 2005 documenting the effect of the very low carb, ketogenic diet on various metabolic markers including leptin.

Cardiovascular and Hormonal Aspects of Very-Low-Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diets. Jeff S. Volek and Matthew J. Sharman. Obesity Research (2004) 12, 115S–123S; doi: 10.1038/oby.2004.276

Also added warning note to readers explaining that many recently published diet studies making claims of the inferiority of the "low carb diet" define the "low carb diet" as a diet containing anywhere from 120 to 180 grams of carbohydrate a day, an amount far higher than most people with diabetes can process.