Waking up from the DREAM of preventing diabetes with drugs
Waking up from the DREAM of preventing diabetes with drugs
The authors of this “Analysis” article discuss the research investigating whether drugs can reduce an individual’s risk of developing diabetes. In particular, they note that the recent DREAM trial found rosiglitazone decreased the risk of diabetes in people at risk and this has led to the promotion of rosiglitazone for the prevention of diabetes. However, they argue that strategies such as this “will bring harms and additional costs while the benefits for patients remain questionable.”
The following topics are discussed in the article:
The authors conclude, “Because of the risk of harming people with no or minimal symptoms, the threshold for use of drugs in otherwise healthy people must be set high. To get the required data for rosiglitazone requires large and long randomised controlled trials measuring its effect on outcomes important to patients and use of healthcare resources. Clinical use of glitazones to prevent diabetes is, at present, impossible to justify because of unproved benefit on patient important outcomes or lasting effect on serum glucose, increased burden of disease labelling, serious adverse effects, increased economic burden, and the availability of effective and less costly lifestyle measures”.
The main summary points (taken directly from the article) are provided below:
Br Med J 2007; 334: 882-4 (link to extract);
BBC News report ( Anti-diabetes pills 'unjustified')
1 comment:
glucobay 50 mg is used to treat people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. It helps lower blood sugar levels after meals. It belongs to a group of medicines known as alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. That medicine is usually prescribed in combination with other diabetes medications.
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