The issue though, that has brought to the FDA's attention, is the drugs ability to nearly double the risk of life-threatening cardiovascular complications. To those who were taking the drug, were also at increased risk of death, heart attacks, and strokes. The FDA is under major fire for not having the safety of the drug as their main priority and that the drug still needed further study before being released to the public.
I was drawn to this article for many reasons, one being that type 2 diabetes is a very common disease and there are many other ways to help treat this condition. One of the ways that the non-profit organization I am representing (the American Dietetics Association) believes that diet and exercise are one of the most beneficial ways to helping treat type two diabetes. Although I know for sure that there are definitely people out there who need medication to help them lower their blood-glucose levels, I don't feel that those who are suffering from this disease need any more problems to worry about (such as death, heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular complications).
So here is my question: Do you think that this drug should go through further study before being released to the public? Do you think the FDA have the best interests when releasing drugs? And do you think that these medications are an effective means of control for type 2 diabetes?
Don't feel like you have to answer all of those questions, but I am really interested in your opinion!
Here is the link to the article that I found:
Thanks guys!
Good concerns Taylor. I have a few family members dealing with Diabetes and I am always worried about their condition and what preventative measures could have been put into place to prevent my 19 year old sister, (who is also an athlete at Ball State University) from getting Diabetes. There diet growing up was a very basic American-Italian diet (step-sister) and I often wonder if this had something to do with it? I also worried about the medication she is on- the side effects, the long term effects, etc.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I would like to see you doing a little bit more is referring to your sources- provide some research examples that back up your claims: "For example, according to the article...."
Disclaimer: the American-Italian diet I am referring to included a lot of pasta- white flour noodles and lots of cheese, almost every night of the week- they had salads- but I don't know if it dominated the table as much as the pasta did.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the FDA should automatically have to put prescription drugs to very extensive tests before releasing them, and not release it because the "idea" behind it sounded good. And as for the whole exercise and proper dieting is the best way to treat diabetes, I couldn't agree more! People just don't realize how good exercise is for you and how it strengthens your heart and muscles, and also tells your body to release endorphins which reduces stress (lowers cortisol levels) and makes you feel GOOD, naturally.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the drug should go through further testing because they will probably test it on animals or something like that, when they have already practically done testing on humans. In other words, I think we already found out that this drug has too many risks. I'm no chemical engineer but I doubt all of those side effects are "fixable" without completely redesigning a new product. And that is fine, take the old "idea" and try to come up with a safer way to succeed and don't rush it next time. I think that the FDA did have good intentions for releasing it but it wasn't very smart to do so without proper testing. As for the last question, no. I think that exercise and diet is without a doubt the best way to treat diabetes.