Recent studies shows that the people who are taking popular diabetes drugs such as sitagliptin, Merck & Co. (MRK)’s Januvia are prone to higher risk of pancreatic cancer as a resultant of damage of pancreatic cells.According to the study led by renowned researchers namely Peter Butler and Alexandra Butler from the University of California, Los Angeles, supports evidence of rise in pre-cancerous changes in patients living with diabetes. Let us know in detail how diabetes Drugs Damage Pancreas.
Peter Butler has also said that as type 2 diabetes is an enduring process; this will make diabetic patients to frequently use the same drugs for several years which as a result can show adverse effects additionally it can also lead to high risk of pancreatic cancer which would later be a concern. The concern here is that the undesirable effects of this particular drug on the pancreas cannot be detected in humans unless the pancreas was removed and examined.
A group of researchers also found that the type 2 diabetes treatments called incretin mimetics correlate with pre-cancerous cellular changes, which also included Novo Nordisk A/S’s (NOVOB) Victoza and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY)’s Byetta.This diabetic drug known as Byetta may contribute to the rise in risk of pancreatic burning usually known as pancreatitis is believed to be a known risk factor leading to pancreatic cancer. There was also a similar alert for the usage of Januvia in 2009. An analysis of records published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine exhibited that these types of drugs might double a user’s risk of acquiring pancreatitis.
Both Januvia and Byetta perform by enhancing the activity of a gut hormone called glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) which is used to stimulate natural insulin production, thus resulting in lower blood sugar.These findings were in accordance with the swiftly increasing number of reports to the U.S Food and Drug Administration of pancreatic cancer in patients using these drugs compared with diabetics using other drugs.
An examination was conducted on 20 pancreases, out of those 20 pancreases 8 were from people who have undergone incretin therapy, while 12 were from the people who received other treatment. According to a study in Diabetes, a journal of the (ADA)American Diabetes Association,seven of the eight patients taking incretin therapies for a year or more were using Merck’s Januvia while the other was using Byetta.
Later researchers also conducted studies on rats that had been natively supervised to activate the metabolism of people with Type 2 diabetes, as well as their Islets of Langerhans. They treated nearly 40 rats with either Januvia or a Januvia-metformin combination for 12 weeks.
The Islets of Langerhans are usually hormone-producing regions of the pancreas and Metformin is an older diabetes drug which is believed to have tumor-suppressing properties.
From the study results researchers found that rats treated only with Januvia had considerably higher reproduction of beta cells in their Islets of Langerhans, on the other hand some developed pancreatic abnormalities or inflammation. Rats treated with both drugs did not exhibit this effect.
Here beta cells produce the blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin.
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