Diabetes drug linked to cancer risk
There's no such thing as a safe diabetes drug—just different degrees of risk.
While the spotlight has been on Avandia's heart risk, the FDA now says it's putting the drug's main rival, Actos, under review after new data linked it to an increased risk of bladder cancer.
And naturally, the feds are telling diabetics to make sure they keep right on taking this drug anyway.
In fact, they're sending some dangerously mixed signals: First, they say the interim analysis of data on 193,000 California diabetics collected between 1997 and 2008 did not show an increase in bladder cancer risk.
Second, they say that patients who took the highest cumulative dose for the longest periods did have a higher risk--one that reached statistical significance after just 2 years.
Confused? Don't be--because other studies have also found a link, including two clinical trials that found patients who took this med had a higher risk of bladder cancer than patients on other drugs.
In addition, rats given the rodent equivalent of a human dose have developed bladder tumors.
Not exactly encouraging... but the drug's maker, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, is urging caution, saying we're only halfway through a 10-year trial that should answer more questions.
But of course they'd say that.
They have drugs to sell, after all--and Actos has never been in a better position than it is now.
In fact, Actos is the unofficial "better than Avandia" choice for diabetics, since most of the studies that linked Avandia to heart risk compared it to Actos. And with Avandia sales now severely restricted, Takeda stands to earn a quick burst of cash before Actos faces generic competition next year.
But as I've written before, being "better" is not the same as being "good," so even if Actos is better than Avandia, that doesn't make it a good choice for you.
In fact, none of the diabetes meds are good choices, because they all come with risks--and those risks start with the illusion they create.
That's the illusion that a diabetic can take a pill, and then enjoy a slice of double chocolate pound cake.
But that's all it is—an illusion.
Do yourself a favor and take control of your diet, your body and your disease--because diabetics who commit to basic lifestyle changes--and I mean really commit to them, from a strict low-carb diet to daily exercise--find they no longer need dangerous drugs or even insulin.
And that's the best way to avoid the drug risks... and the illusions.
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Edward Martin writes House Calls, a daily letter chronicling the most cutting-edge alternative methods for beating diabetes and cancer, to the latest FDA foul-ups and Big Pharma conspiracies.
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Andre
hi every diabetic people:
I keep getting these emails , and the more I read, the more I get mad at the medical profession, and the way they push the drugs on us, and........... say that we have to take these meds for the rest of our lives. I'll be honest with you, I was diagnosed diabetis type 2 about 4 years ago. I was taking CRESTOR 20 mg, twice a day, and if I still eat a good piece of pie, or a nice piece of cake, my sugar still went up. Meds or not. So, the doc boosted my meds to 30mg, twice a day, and same results
So to make a long story short, I kicked the meds bye bye, and changed my eating habits, and you know what????? If I eat like I should, restrict the sugar & sweets, I stay in the safe zone.
Granted, if I don't watch what I eat, my sugar will flare up again.
So, diabetic people, it's up to you. Those meds will make your kidnes, and liver fail with due time, so I think I'll take my chances of kicking the meds for good.
However, one thing I do to help, I grow my own KALE and SPINACH, and I wash them, put them in my blender, add a tea spoon of flax oil from health food store, and about 2-1/2 inches of pineapple juice in the blender, and mulch it for few minutes. You can also add lettuce to the mix. In other words, I drink my veggies and it goes into the blood right away. That has really improved my health. Also been drinking my well water, which is very good, but I pass it in a distiller that I bought since March this year. That is another plus. Also I eat toasts with honey and LOTS of CINNAMON. dON'T put too much honey. Honey and cinnamon is suppose to be good to control sugar. (Google it for yourself)
So folks, all I can say is, kick those meds before they kick you six feet under. But control your diet
ken123
Diabetics; have you ever asked yourself why you test your glucose? You spend a small forture on test strips to use in your free meter to determin your glucose reading. After you see whether your reading is too high or low, then what do you do? Of course if it is too low, you eat a piece of candy or some fruit. If it is too high most of the time you ignore it until your next scheduled intake of medicine. Normally, it's a merry-go-round and the readings are vitually useless unless if used to satisfy your curiosity. What I'm getting at is this, your daily testing does little for you but does enrich the manufacturers of test stris at your expense. Think about it.
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