People who have both diabetes and heart failure are being treated with drugs that are not recommended by the Food and Drug Administration.

The drugs metformin and the thiazolidinediones are known as oral insulin sensitizers and are often used in the treatment of diabetes to normalize blood sugar. But these drugs are not recommended if patients are also being treated for heart failure, because they might lead to kidney dysfunction and other complications.

Researchers at the Denver Health Medical Center surveyed patients hospitalized for heart failure, who also had diabetes, between 1998 and 1999 and again during 2000 and 2001. They found that 7.1 per cent were prescribed metformin and 7.2 per cent thiazolidinediones in the earlier time period. The use of these drugs increased during 2000 and 2001 - with 11.2 per cent getting a prescription for metformin and 16.1 per cent thiazolidinediones. Evidently doctors need to be more aware of the prescribing recommendations for patients with both diabetes and heart failure, and to act upon them.

Source

Journal of the American Medical Association 2nd July 2003