Researchers find diabetes drugs harmful to women’s bone health

NEW YORK Two drugs for treating Type 2 diabetes could increase women’s risk of weak and easily broken bones, according to study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The drugs, GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia (rosiglitazone) and Takeda’s Actos (pioglitazone), belong to a class of drugs called thiazolidinediones. Studies in the United States and United Kingdom already indicated that they increased fracture risks. In the latest study, the increased risk was found among women, but not among men. 

The study examined data from 10 drug trials that used more than 13,000 patients. Among postmenopausal women with Type 2 diabetes, one-in-21 had a higher than average number of fractures.