Newer blood-pressure drugs pose less diabetes risk

More recent blood pressure treatments are less likely to be associated with diabetes than are older medicines, researchers said on Friday.

Their conclusions are based on a systematic review of 22 clinical trials involving 143,000 patients who did not have diabetes when they were started on the different high blood pressure medicines.

The propensity of some blood-pressure-lowering drugs to reduce glucose tolerance and trigger diabetes has been known for some time, but a meta-analysis of past clinical trials found the danger was less with angiotensin-receptor blockers and angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors.

William Elliott of Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, and colleagues reported in the Lancet medical journal that the link between diabetes was lowest for angiotensin-receptor blockers and angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors, followed by calcium-channel blockers, beta-blockers and diuretics.

Print Version
Tell-a-Friend comments powered by Disqus

RELATED ARTICLES:

New biomarkers may influence drug design and alternative treatments of cancer, study shows   UGA ecologist finds another cause of antibiotic resistance   Implantable ‘artificial pancreas’ could help diabetes patients control their blood sugar   New drug for neuroblastoma shows promise in phase I study   Baclofen shows promise in patients with alcohol-induced liver disease   Joslin researchers find drugs are effective for diabetic macular edema in new trial   Findings point to an ‘off switch’ for drug resistance in cancer   New superfoods could help key protein keep bodies healthy   Poor quality of life may affect teens’ diabetes management   Stopping statins may benefit terminally ill patients   Cholesterol drug users may use pills as a license to overeat   Pfizer lung cancer drug beats chemo for previously untreated patients