(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New research suggests an association between
thiazolidinediones -- a type of drug introduced in the 1990s to treat type 2
diabetes -- and bone fracture.
Ian Douglas of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and colleagues
searched the UK General Practice Research Database of clinical records from over
6 million patients registered at 400 general practice surgeries in the United
Kingdom. They identified 1,819 individuals aged 40 years or older who had a
recorded bone fracture and who had been prescribed a thiazolidinedione at least
once, and conducted a self-controlled case-series study. This study compares how
often an event (in this case bone fracture) occurs in a population of people
during the period when they are taking a particular medication (in this case a
thiazolidinedione drug) against the period when they are not taking that
medication.
Adjusting for age, the researchers found that in the group of people studied,
nearly one and half times more fractures occurred when people were taking
thiazolidinediones than when they were not taking these drugs. The increased
risk of fracture was observed in both men and women and applied to a wide range
of fracture sites on the body. The study also found that the risk of fracture
increased as the duration of treatment with the drug increased.
The researchers acknowledge that, as with any study, there could be sources of
bias because this study is observational and not a randomised trial.
Nevertheless, the findings are consistent with findings from recent trials that
suggested a link between thiazolidinediones and bone fracture.
The researchers conclude the results should be taken into consideration in the
wider debate surrounding the possible risks and benefits of treatment with
thiazolidinediones.
SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, September 28, 2009
