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Prescription Meds Can Put on Unwanted Pounds
Posted 2 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, March 2 – Medications taken by millions of Americans for mood disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes and other chronic conditions can have an unhealthy side effect: weight gain. While other choices exist for some types of drugs, adjusting medications is not simply a matter of switching, said Ryan Roux, chief pharmacy officer with the Harris County Hospital District, in Houston. In the late 1990s, Dr. Lawrence Cheskin conducted early research on prescription medicines and obesity. "Some medicines make an early, noticeable difference, causing patients to become ravenously hungry, while changes are subtle for others. A few months taking them and you've gained 10 pounds," said Cheskin, now director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, in Baltimore. To help increase awareness, Roux and his pharmacist group have compiled a list of "weight-promoting" and "weight-neutral or ... Read more
Related support groups: Bipolar Disorder, High Blood Pressure, Zoloft, Diabetes, Type 2, Wellbutrin, Seroquel, Prednisone, Prozac, Hypertension, Metformin, Paxil, Gabapentin, Lamictal, Sprintec, Mirena
Four Common Meds Send Thousands of Seniors to Hospital: CDC
Posted 23 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 23 – An estimated 100,000 older Americans are hospitalized for adverse drug reactions yearly, and most of those emergencies stem from four common medications, a new study finds. The four types of medication – two for diabetes and two blood-thinning agents – account for two-thirds of those drug-related emergency hospitalizations. "Of the thousands of medications available to older patients, a small group of blood thinners and diabetes medications caused a high proportion of emergency hospitalizations for adverse drug events among elderly Americans," said lead study author Dr. Daniel Budnitz, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's medication safety program. Medications previously designated "high-risk" were implicated in only 1.2 percent of hospitalizations, the study found. Working with a nationally representative database, CDC researchers ... Read more
Related support groups: Metformin, Aspirin, Coumadin, Plavix, Warfarin, Insulin, Lantus, Januvia, Glucophage, Actos, Glyburide, Glipizide, Humalog, Janumet, Novolog
Class of Drugs Linked to Higher Heart Risk in Older Diabetics
Posted 26 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
SATURDAY, June 25 – New research shows that older people with type 2 diabetes who take drugs known as sulfonylureas to lower their blood sugar levels may face a higher risk for heart problems than their counterparts who take metformin. Of the more than 8,500 people aged 65 or older with type 2 diabetes who were enrolled in the trial, 12.4 percent of those given a sulfonylurea drug experienced a heart attack or other cardiovascular event, compared with 10.4 percent of those who were started on metformin. In addition, these heart problems occurred earlier in the course of treatment among those people taking the sulfonylurea drugs, the study showed. The head-to-head comparison trial is slated to be presented Saturday at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting in San Diego. Because the findings are being reported at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Metformin, Glucophage, Glyburide, Glipizide, Amaryl, Glimepiride, Glucophage XR, GlipiZIDE XL, Glucotrol, Glucotrol XL, Glumetza, Riomet, Fortamet, Glynase
Diabetes Drugs Go Head-to-Head in Study
Posted 4 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Dec. 3 – A class of drugs still taken by millions of people with type 2 diabetes is associated with a higher risk of dying and heart failure than the newer treatment metformin, researchers say. Sulfonylureas, long a mainstay of diabetes treatment, performed less well than metformin in a study of oral anti-diabetes drugs, but doctors said the findings aren't necessarily a reason to discontinue taking them. Glyburide, glipizide and glimepiride are examples of sulfonylureas. Metformin, which is sold as Glucophage and other brand names, is already the first-choice therapy for type 2 diabetes, and the findings are in line with new American Diabetes Association recommendations, meaning the results won't change the way patients are already treated. "This raises some interesting points for other, more specific research, but it won't affect the way we practice medicine tomorrow," said ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Metformin, Glucophage, Actos, Glyburide, Glipizide, Janumet, Amaryl, Avandia, Glimepiride, Glucophage XR, Pioglitazone, GlipiZIDE XL, ActoPlus Met, Glucotrol
FDA Medwatch Alert: Amaryl (glimepiride)
Posted 26 Oct 2004 by Drugs.com
[October 26, 2004] FDA, Janssen Pharmaceutica Products, and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development notified healthcare professionals of reports of medication errors involving confusion between Reminyl, a drug approved for the treatment of mild to moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's type, and Amaryl (glimepiride), a product of Aventis Pharmaceuticals, indicated for the treatment of non-insulin dependent (Type 2) diabetes mellitus. These reports include instances in which Reminyl was prescribed but Amaryl was incorrectly dispensed and administered instead, leading to various adverse events including severe hypoglycemia and one death.[UPDATE 12/23/2004] Letter to Pharmacists from Aventis Pharmaceuticals posted. [October 15, 2004 - Letter to Healthcare Professionals - Janssen][October 19, 2004 - Letter to Pharmacists - Janssen] PDF Format[November 5, 2004 - Letter to ... Read more
Related support groups: Amaryl