The Perils of Actos
Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is the maker of Actos, a pioglitazone drug insulin sensitizer for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. The function of Actos is to decrease insulin resistance, increase glucose uptake and fat redistribution, slightly decrease hepatic glucose output, preserve cell function and decrease vascular inflammation. During the prior years, Actos earned its spot in the bestseller list of drugs sold in the US. However, every Actos purchase comes with a strong contraindication label for various alarming side effects.
Takeda Pharmaceutical made a case study of the product’s side effect particularly on its link to bladder cancer. The study shows that Actos consumers for more than one year have a higher chance of having bladder cancer or bladder tumor. This stirred the US Food and Drug Administration to review the pioglitazone drug’s side effects in September, 2010. The FDA retained its public warning amidst various Actos complaints and lawsuits albeit no recall was made.
A disease as sensitive as Type 2 Diabetes deserves higher scrutiny on the medications involved. Medications containing severe chemical compounds may produce dangerous side effects that outweigh the advantages it may possess. Self-awareness and vigilance is highly appropriate in these circumstances where life and limb is involved.
Colds or other sinus infections, headache, muscle pain and sore throat are the ordinary and milder side effects of Actos to a regular diabetic. To add to this, a precaution is advised to diabetic patients who have other diseases as well, such as heart, liver and bladder complications, for Actos is said to aggravate the same. The most dangerous side effects Actos has are heart failure, liver problems and bladder cancer.
Heart failure indicates that a person’s heart is not pumping blood well enough. Indications for heart failure include unusually fast weight gain, fluid retention or swelling, shortness of breath and unusual tiredness. Manifestations of liver problems include unexplained nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, unusual tiredness, loss of appetite, dark urine and yellowing of the skin or eyes. The symptoms of bladder cancer include blood or a red color in the urine, increased need to urinate and pain while urinating. All of these symptoms may be apparent to an Actos user and may be a cause for a higher concern.
Actos side effects are placed ostensibly on the product’s label following the order issued by the US FDA. However blunt the contraindication may be placed, its gravity is still in an uncertain depth. A person is still in danger of Actos’s side effects as long as the product is in prescriptions and is out on the market.
REFERENCES:
http://www.takeda.com/products/ethical-drugs/article_896.html
http://www.takeda.com/search/?q=actos&x=0&y=0
http://www.actos.com/ImportantSafetyInformation.aspx
http://ndep.nih.gov/am-i-at-risk/index.aspx
http://ndep.nih.gov/am-i-at-risk/DiabetesIsPreventable.aspx
http://search2.google.cit.nih.gov/search?q=cache:9A4BYnhYmOsJ:ndep.nih.gov/media/Drug_tables_supplement.pdf+actos&client=NDEP_frontend&proxystylesheet=NDEP_frontend&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&site=NDEP&access=p&oe=UTF-8
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/overview/index.aspx#types