What is Actos?
Actos is a prescription medication taken by individuals with type 2 diabetes (diabetes mellitus) to help control their blood sugar (glucose) levels.
Generically known as pioglitazone, the medication is sold as a single-ingredient drug under the name Actos or in combination with other diabetes medications, such as metformin, sulfonylurea or insulin. The combination drugs have been sold as ACTOplus med, ACTOplus met XR and duetact.
Actos and Increased Cardiovascular Risk
Actos is in a class of drugs known as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonists. The only other drug in this class is Avandia (rosiglitazone). The federal Food and Drug Administration significantly restricted the prescribing of Avandia in 2010 due to the drug’s link to increased risk of cardiovascular injury, including heart attacks and strokes.
Like Avandia, Actos has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of heart problems. Accordingly, the FDA has required a warning on the drug’s label to alert patients of this risk.
Actos Linked to Bladder Cancer Risk
More recently, the FDA has discovered an association between Actos and an increased risk of bladder cancer. In June 2010, the FDA announced the findings of an interim analysis of an on-going study of diabetic patients in the US. [link: ] The study data show a significant increase in bladder cancers among diabetics who have taken Actos for more than one year. The risk of bladder cancer increases based on the length of exposure as well as the strength of doses administered.
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