Avandia to be Pulled From U.S. Retail Pharmacies
Eight months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would significantly limit the use of blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia, the Agency has decided to take even further regulatory action.
With the first ruling, Avandia was no longer prescribed for new patients unless their physician certified that other medications and interventions were not working. The new rules, which go into effect November 18, state that Avandia will no longer be sold at retail pharmacies and will only be available to patients who:
- Could not successfully control their blood sugar with other medications
- Have been informed of the risks and still decide to take it
- Have been “safely” using the drug
But the notion of “safely” using Avandia is misleading at best, as it has been linked to serious risks to your heart. These risks have been known for years; in 2007 a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine linked Avandia to a 43 percent greater risk of heart attack and an increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular causes compared to patients not receiving the drug.
But while the steep heart risks came to light publicly just a few years back, the drug’s maker may have known of the risks for more than a decade — since 1999. As the New York Times revealed last year, a study by SmithKline conducted in 1999 found that Avandia was more dangerous to the heart than a competing drug, Actos.
But despite the negative results, SmithKline chose not to post the findings or submit them to the FDA.
The good news is that many people may be spared a future heart attack now that Avandia will be essentially blacklisted. You deserve to restore your health, not risk it with potentially toxic drugs. And you can often do just that — become free of drugs, blood sugar worries, even get off insulin and reverse type 2 diabetes — when you are able to identify the underlying causative factors of your condition, and address them with a customized treatment plan.
U.S. News & World Report May 19, 2011
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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.
Diabetes Drug Linked to Cancer
Adverse reactions among those taking anti-diabetic drugs are common; more than half a million reports of side effects were received by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database between 2004 and 2009 alone.
Among them were 138 reports of bladder cancer, of which one-fifth were among people taking Actos (pioglitazone). This represents a “disproportionate risk” compared with other anti-diabetic drugs, and, according to researchers, “needs constant epidemiologic surveillance and urgent definition by more specific studies.”
This finding adds to an ongoing safety review the FDA is currently conducting on Actos, which also found potential bladder cancer risks. After analyzing data from a 5-year period of an ongoing 10-year observational study being conducted by the drug’s manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, a significantly increased risk of bladder cancer was found among those who had been using Actos for more than two years and in those who had the highest cumulative dose of the drug.
Actos belongs to the class of diabetes drugs called TZDs (thiazolidinediones), which also includes Avandia, a diabetes drug that’s use has recently been restricted due to increased heart risks. TZDs are also known to lead to significant weight gain, which increases your risk of diabetes and diabetes complications
As for the cancer connection, Reuters reported:
“It’s not clear how Actos might increase the risk of bladder cancer, [study author Dr. Elisabetta Poluzzi] added. The drug treats diabetes by activating certain receptors on cells – much as a key opens or closes a lock, and this same mechanism may also encourage some cells to become cancerous, she said.”
Every diabetes drug carries with it an increased risk of side effects, some severe. The good news is that these drugs are not the only option if you have diabetes, as type 2 diabetes can often be prevented, managed and even reversed naturally.
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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.
How Diabetes Medications May Make You Fat
TZDs (thiazolidinediones), a class of diabetes drugs that includes Actos and Avandia, are used to help lower blood sugar levels in diabetics, but at a steep cost: they often lead to significant weight gain.
Now researchers have uncovered why these drugs cause users to pack on the pounds.
A study on rats found the drugs influence a molecular system called PPAR-y. PPAR-y is found not only in fat tissue, where it influences the production of fat cells, but also in your brain. The diabetes drugs activated PPAR-y in the brain, leading to changes in appetite regulation that caused the rats to eat more. High-fat diets also activated the same system.
The researchers concluded one solution to the weight gain problem would be to redesign the drugs so they have less influence on your brain, but that would not do anything about the drugs’ other side effects. Avandia, for instance, has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and as a result U.S. regulators recently restricted its use.
Rather than rely on diabetes drugs that can cause heart troubles or lead to weight gain — which, ironically, increases your risk of diabetes and diabetes complications — why not try natural methods to restore your health?
It’s now well established that diabetes can actually be reversed, and numerous patients at the Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado have experienced this firsthand. Often, a commitment to healthy lifestyle changes — including exercise and dietary changes that include limiting your refined carbohydrates — is successful at getting your blood sugar levels back into a healthy range, with no drugs required.
Nature Medicine May 2011;17(5):623-6
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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.
Cholesterol Drugs May Give You Diabetes
A growing number of studies are prompting concerns that widely prescribed statin drugs, used to lower cholesterol, could be contributing to increasing rates of diabetes.
A new review published in Current Opinion in Cardiology noted:
“The increased incidence of diabetes with rosuvastatin [brand name Crestor] treatment in Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention: an intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin (JUPITER) reignited attention on the link between statin therapy and diabetes.
The JUPITER findings are supported by two recent meta-analyses of large-scale placebo-controlled and standard care-controlled trials, which, respectively, observed a 9% and 13% increased risk for incident diabetes associated with statin therapy.”
Separate research has also shown that statin use is associated with a rise of fasting plasma glucose in patients with and without diabetes.
If you are one of the millions of Americans taking statin drugs and you’ve recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it’s worth considering whether it could be drug-induced.
Current Opinion in Cardiology April 15, 2011
Lancet February 27, 2010; 375(9716):735-42
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Dr. Heather Credeur, D.C. and Dr. Brandon Credeur, D.C. of The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado are passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.
Herbal Medicine May Improve Pre-Diabetes
It’s well known that by eating better and exercising you can drastically improve the outcomes of pre-diabetes, a pre-curser to full-blown diabetes that also increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke. However, you may be able to get even better results by also taking specific herbal supplements.
Chinese herbal medicines have long been used to prevent diabetes in Asian countries, and anecdotal evidence supporting their effectiveness is plentiful.
A review of 16 clinical trials involving people with pre-diabetes also found that those receiving Chinese herbal medicines combined with lifestyle modification were more than twice as likely to normalize their blood sugar levels than those using lifestyle modification alone. Those taking the herbal supplements were also less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
It’s estimated that 79 million people in the United States are currently suffering from pre-diabetes.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. October 7, 2009 (4)
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
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Dr. Heather Credeur, D.C. and Dr. Brandon Credeur, D.C. of The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado are passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.
What Does Dr. Oz Say About Diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is labeled a “chronic” disease, which automatically sends the message that this is a condition you have for life. But those of you with a new diabetes diagnosis can take comfort in the fact that this does not have to be the case.
In fact, acceptance is growing among the mainstream medical community that type 2 diabetes is reversible. Dr. Mehmet Oz is among the many physicians who now say diabetes is completely treatable, and reversible, by making better lifestyle choices
As reported on Oprah.com, Dr. Oz stated:
“Most diabetes is preventable,” he says. “It is treatable, even reversible … Ninety percent of type 2 diabetics can actually reverse their problem.”
Yet, type 2 diabetes is often labeled a “silent killer” because it can take years before you notice any serious symptoms, But by that time it may be too late, and the damage done may lead to heart attack, kidney disease or amputations.
So if you’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, don’t wait to get help. The sooner you act the more damage you will prevent, and the better your chances of a full recovery will become.
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Dr. Heather Credeur, D.C. and Dr. Brandon Credeur, D.C. of The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado are passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.
Spending on Anti-Diabetes Drugs is Out of Control
Anti-diabetes drug spending grew by $1.9 billion in 2010, making them the fourth top therapeutic class in the United States, according to IMS Health. In all, the IMS Institute report “The Use of Medicines in the United States: Review of 2010” noted that 165 million prescriptions for anti-diabetic drugs were filled in 2010, a nearly 4 percent increase over 2009.
The CDC also reported that over 84 percent of adults with diabetes took diabetes medication in 2008 — but with all of these diabetes drugs, are Americans getting healthier as the conventional medical establishment would have you believe?
Not exactly.
People with diabetes have double the risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke compared to those without. Diabetics also have a 25 percent greater risk of dying from cancer along with an increased risk of dying from infections, lung disease, kidney disease, falls and suicide.
Further, diabetes lowers life expectancy at every age, by an average of 8.5 years at age 50, 5 years at age 60 and one year at age 90.
As long as you have diabetes, these risks remain strong, and diabetes medications will not “cure” you of the disease. However, as even the mainstream media and many experts, including Dr. Brandon Credeur, D.C. and Dr. Heather Credeur, D.C., are now reporting, you can reverse diabetes … and, often, you can do it without drugs.
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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.
Diabetes Can be Reversed
If you’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, you should know that it doesn’t have to be a life sentence. Although conventional physicians will typically prescribe drugs for type 2 diabetes immediately, a commitment to healthy lifestyle changes — including exercise and dietary changes that include limiting your refined carbohydrates — is often successful at getting your blood sugar levels back into a healthy range.
Even CNN recently featured an article with the headline “Reversing Diabetes is Possible.” They featured the story of Morgan Stanley executive Jonathan Legg who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 39. Rather than take drugs to control the condition, as his doctor recommended, Legg decided to make lifestyle changes and was able to successfully reverse the condition. He no longer has diabetes.
Dr. Michelle Magee, director of the MedStar Diabetes Institute in Washington told CNN:
“We have seen numerous people reverse their condition.”
Dr. Heather Credeur, D.C. and Dr. Brandon Credeur, D.C. of The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado agree, as they too have many patients who have reversed type 2 diabetes naturally.
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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.
The Good Doctors Credeur Saved My Life!
Last May I watched ‘It’s Your Business” segments on the 11 am newscasts and saw the Doctors Credeur and the Functional Endocrinology practice they have along with their Chiropractic practice.
I took a chance that they could help me. My AMA doctor had been seeing me and not addressing my problems for years by just prescribing more and more different drugs hoping to land on something that worked to relieve my ailments. By the time I had reached Doctor Credeur’s office I was on 14 different drugs, hormone replacements and supplements and gaining weight faster than ever. I had been taking diabetes meds for about 5 years, thyroid meds for 25 years, and not getting any better. That’s how the American Medical Association doctors “handled” me. The insurance companies and drug companies also played huge parts in my overmedicated life by pushing their agendas.
Then I lost my job and insurances were all gone. I knew the only way to win the war was to get as healthy as possible so as not to rely on insurance to survive (they won’t insure me anyway because of the diabetes the doctor wouldn’t help with. See the cycle?)
Then I met the fine doctors who took me in and helped me in ways my medical doctor never would or cared enough to try.
May 18 2010 150 lbs. Overweight; I had diabetes treated with pills only and the words “lose weight and check your sugars every morning”; hormone replacement levels off the charts 1200x as much as needed by any one woman (yes, that’s right, 1200x); thyroid in danger if not stabilized; liver suffering from all the drugs prescribed to hide the underlying problems. There’s so much more I can’t go on, but you get the picture.
By following the protocol, tailored especially for me by my own wonderful Dr. Watts, I now have NO MORE diabetes, blood pressures are normal again, thyroid has stabilized. The only side affects I find? I have a clear mind for a change and have lost 70 lbs. (and counting) and 8 clothing sizes and 56 total inches. I can walk on my own with no help. The arthritis-like symptoms from that much weight its staggering; that’s all gone along with dependence on pain relievers for pain management. My hormone levels are normal and no longer taking replacements. Peace and joy have been restored in my life since all the prescriptions are gone. I can think clearly, not being foggy and spacey all the time. The price I paid them for this program was nothing compared to my costs for further medical care, prescriptions, declining health and loss of quality of life not to mention the strain on my marriage and husband to have to care for a fairly young woman.
Then there’s the chiropractic sessions to further enhance your success; the nutritionist is the best I’ve ever found in my searches over the last 40 years, way better than Weight Watchers, and the 100′s of other programs I’ve tried. The food planning calendars keep you completely on track with no guessing at all, ever. There’s so much support form the receptionists all the way to the top minds in the field at the seminars they hold, you can’t fail unless you as a patient just don’t do your part or aren’t entirely honest with the therapist and protocol.
My AMA doctor and I have parted ways. He doesn’t have my best interests in mind. I was just one of the cattle.
I will be standing in that very large group of people who cheer loudly and frequently for the all chiropractors, nutritionists, therapists and staff at the Functional Endocrinology Center. I don’t know where I would be now if not for these outstanding healers and caregivers. Alternative medicine has been saving lives for centuries all over the world. Chiropractors have been my best defense for whole body health and always will be. Don’t let one bad experience by one person ruin a great chance at health for so many others who have and will be helped in the future by this group of fine people.
– Cyndee Vandas
Hypothyroidism Linked to Type 2 Diabetes
Hypothyroidism is a well-recognized risk of type 1 diabetes, but new research shows there’s a strong association with type 2 diabetes as well. In a study involving over 5,000 people, researchers found the prevalence of hypothyroidism to be nearly 6 percent among people with type 2 diabetes, compared to just under 2 percent in those without.
The association was so significant that researchers recommended routine screening for hypothyroidism at the time of a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
It’s estimated that anywhere from 10 percent to 31 percent of type 2 diabetics may have thyroid dysfunction, with subclinical hypothyroidism the most common thyroid condition. Subclinical hypothyroidism has also been linked to metabolic syndrome, a condition that increases your risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.
Both thyroid disorders and diabetes involve a dysfunction of the endocrine system. Type 1 diabetes and the most common cause of hypothyroidism — Hashimoto’s disease — are also both autoimmune diseases, and having one autoimmune disease increases your risk of developing another.
With type 2 diabetes, coexisting hypothyroidism may increase your risk of heart problems, and the researchers noted that early identification of both conditions could improve heart function, blood pressure and lipid profile.
A separate report in Clinical Diabetes noted:
“ … Hypothyroidism is accompanied by a variety of abnormalities in plasma lipid metabolism, including elevated triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations. Even subclinical hypothyroidism can exacerbate the coexisting dyslipidemia commonly found in type 2 diabetes and further increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.”
Symptoms of hypothyroidism, especially at the subclinical level, are often minimal or, like fatigue, dry skin, constipation, muscle cramps and memory problems, may mimic those of many other conditions, making it incredibly easy to miss.
Fortunately, dietary approaches and other lifestyle changes can often help bring both your thyroid function and blood sugar levels back into the normal ranges. For more information, contact the Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado today.
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) 20th Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress April 15, 2011
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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.
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