Thaindian News

By Gina Gomez
Aug 29, (THAINDIAN NEWS) A new research has highlighted that the risk of developing heart ailments or causing death of the diabetes drug Avandia is just the same as its rival drug Actos. The findings of the new study which compares the effects of the two diabetic drugs was published in the journal ‘Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes’ earlier this week. The research pointed out that Avandia which is manufactured by drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda Pharmaceutical produced drug Actos played a similar role when it comes to increasingly the risk of heart ailments as both escalated the chances of developing heart ailments by 4 per cent.

The research which was conducted by scientists at health insurer WellPoint Inc, took into consideration as many as 36,000 diabetes patients who were administered with either Actos or Avandia. After the study, the researchers concluded that out of the total number of patients, 602 of those who took Avandia had to confront heart problems or died while 599 of those who were being administered with Actos suffered heart ailments or lost their lives. The findings of the new study are contradictory to an earlier study that was published by FDA researchers that postulated that diabetes patients taking Avandia had 18 per cent higher risk of developing heart diseases and death compared to those who took its rival Actos.

While talking about the results of study, researcher Debra Wertz who is associated with HealthCore, the research arm of WellPoint Inc., revealed to the media that the study provides the patients and the doctors valuable information about the two drugs as they decide which is the best therapy for them.