(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Patients taking a commonly prescribed class of
diabetes medications may be at risk for bone fractures.
Thiazolidinediones are a relatively new and effective class of drugs designed to
treat insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes patients. Twenty-one percent of oral
medications prescribed in the United States are pioglitazone (Actos) and
rosiglitazone (Avandia) -- two drugs in this category. Previous studies have
suggested these medications may cause slower bone formation and faster bone
loss, but a new study now reveals they may also be linked to fractures.
Researchers in Switzerland looked at 1,020 patients with diabetes who had
fractures. For each patient, they had up to four control subjects who had
diabetes, were the same age and sex, had the same physician, but did not have
fractures. The results showed those currently taking rosiglitazone and
pioglitazone were roughly two to three times more likely to have hip and other
non-spine fractures than those not taking the drugs. The risk for fractures
increased in those who took the drugs for 12 to 18 months and was highest for
those taking them for two or more years.
“No such effect was seen for other antidiabetic drugs in this study population,”
study authors wrote. “These findings, although they are consistent with recently
reported data from a randomized trial, are based on relatively few
thiazolidinedione-exposed patients and need to be confirmed by additional
observational studies and by controlled clinical trials.”
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008;168:820-825
