Newest Diabetes Drugs Linked to Higher Pancreatitis Risk

As if getting pancreatitis isn’t bad enough it turns out that even new meds can cause a pancreatic attack.  In an article on the US News Health website it was reported that new meds used to treat diabetes can cause pancreatitis.

“Diabetes patients who take the latest class of drugs to control blood sugar levels are twice as likely to develop pancreatitis as those who take other medications to control blood sugar, according to a new study.”

Two new drugs, Januvia and Byetts are used by millions of Americans with deiabetes to control their blood sugar.  These two drugs are are glucagon-like peptide-1-based (GLP-1) therapies.

A study compared 1300 patients with type 2 Diabetes who took one of these types of drugs with 1300 patients who took other types of meds.  It was found that the ones who took the GLP-1 therapy drugs were twice as likely to be hospitalized with acute pancreatitis than those who took other drugs.

Even though these newest Diabetes drugs linked to higher pancreatitis risk work very well with treating Diabetes but this chance of developing acute pancreatitis are pretty concerning.  Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, in Connecticut also said:

“Physicians should specifically review with patients their past and current medical history for evidence of susceptibility to pancreatic or thyroid disease, and avoid use in individuals with such a history.”

The study did not investigate the affects that taking the drugs would have on someone that already had a damaged pancreas or suffered chronic pancreatitis but one would have to think that it would be a bad idea to take them.

A full copy of this article can be read at this link.