Diabetes medicine can cause heart failure

Anti-diabetes medicine can increase heart failure risk

27/11/2013

When seniors with diabetes worsen their performance and symptoms such as swollen legs and shortness of breath occur, heart failure can be the cause of the discomfort. Some diabetes medicines increase the risk of heart failure. This informs diabetesDE - German Diabetes Aid in Berlin.

Diabetes medications that lower blood sugar levels can promote heart failure
Some blood sugar-lowering drugs increase the risk of heart failure, where currently 80 percent of diabetics die within three years of being diagnosed. diabetesDE advises to exchange affected drugs for other medicines.

About 40 percent of Type 2 diabetics suffer from a weakened heart that no longer pumps enough blood through the body. The organization recommends to pay attention to body weight and nutrition in order to reduce further risks. So should be dispensed with frozen ready-made products and cured, because a quantity of three grams of salt per day should not be exceeded.

„Changing your lifestyle can reduce your risk by more than half”, The organization quotes Katrin Löbbecke, spa director from Bad Mergentheim, in a press release. Löbbecke reports a US study by the US National Institute of Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Therefore, the combination of a healthier, lower-fat and lower-salt diet and more exercise, abstinence from smoking and low alcohol consumption, stress reduction and adequate sleep is crucial. „We have to go even further in Germany this way of focusing more on prevention, and the offers of the German spas can be an important engine in this regard. So far, despite all the protestations, diabetes prevention is hardly an issue in Germany's health programs and medical practices”, reports Löbbecke. (Ag)

Picture: Martin Berk