Diabetes Drugs Can Cause Heart Failure

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http://www.mercola.com/2003/sep/24/diabetes_drugs.htm

 

 

Diabetes Drugs Can Cause Heart Failure

 

 

Two medications used to treat type 2 diabetes may cause or worsen congestive

heart failure and pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs), according to

researchers. The drugs, pioglitazone and rosiglitazone, are taken by over 6

million Americans.

Researchers say patients with left ventricular dysfunction or chronic renal

insufficiency should not take the drugs. More research is needed to

determine why the drugs may cause such severe side effects.

 

Mayo Clinic Proceedings September 9, 2003

 

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

Rezulin, another diabetes drug, was pulled from the market in March 2000

after about 100 people who took it died from acute liver failure or had to

have liver transplants. Now researchers suggest that these other diabetes

drugs can cause or worsen heart failure.

 

Nearly 10 percent of the public has diabetes so this is no small issue. Many

are offered a drug solution for a problem that is clearly one that requires

lifestyle modification. Fortunately, diabetes, especially in children, is

tremendously easy to treat by restricting all grains and sugars from the

diet, as discussed in my book, and increasing exercise.

 

Making these changes in your lifestyle will help to optimize your insulin

levels. As some people may know, blood sugar is only the symptom in most

diabetics; the real challenge is to control your insulin levels. Once the

insulin levels are stabilized it is common for the blood sugar to come back

to normal levels.

 

Exercise works by increasing the sensitivity of insulin receptors so the

insulin that is present works much more effectively and your body doesn't

need to produce as much.

 

Most people, especially doctors, tend to not appreciate how powerful

exercise is. However, I believe it needs to be viewed like a drug--you have

to be very careful with the dose. If the dose is not high enough, it will

not work.

 

One of the keys in using exercise to normalize insulin levels with secondary

benefits of weight loss and normalization of blood sugars is to make certain

minimum thresholds are met. It is my experience that most people are not

exercising enough.

 

There are three important variables with exercise:

 

Length of time

Frequency

Intensity

 

Assuming people can exercise, I encourage my patients to gradually increase

the amount of time they are exercising to one hour per day. Initially the

frequency is daily. This is a treatment dose until they normalize their

weight or insulin levels. Once normalized, they will only need exercise

three to four times per week.

 

 

 

In terms of intensity, you should exercise hard enough so that it is very

difficult to talk to someone next to you. However, if you cannot carry on a

conversation at all, then you have gone too far and need to decrease the

intensity slightly. However, most people don't exercise at the appropriate

intensity and as a result aren't able to obtain the benefits.

 

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Brushing and Flossing Related to Diabetes

 

Stress Treatments Helps Control Type 2 Diabetes

 

Fish Oil Helps Prevent Diabetes

 

Exercise Can Reverse Pre-Diabetes

 

Avoid the #1 Cause of Type 2 Diabetes: Bad Food!