TOPICS - Avandia

Avandia is a medication introduced in 1999 that is prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes. An independent analysis by Dr. Steve Nissen, of the Cleveland Clinic, concluded that people taking Avandia have a 43% higher risk of suffering a heart attack.

In type 2 diabetes, patients do not produce enough insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar and other food into energy, or their cells ignore the insulin that is being produced. Avandia increases the sensitivity of the cells to insulin, thereby lowering blood sugar.

Avandia works by affecting what are known as peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptors or PPARs. These are receptors in a cell’s nucleus that affect a broad range of human genes. Many experimental PPAR drugs have been associated with hazards to the heart.

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