Linagliptin more type two diabetes junk medication on the way !

It never ceases to amaze me how big pharma gets away with peddling junk medication. When it comes to type two diabetes meds, the situation is almost farcical. Some expensive meds can reduce HbA1c by up to 1.8 percent, when taken with Metformin, that reduces HbA1c by up to 1.5 percent. Get my drift ? These drugs are an expensive way of seeing a possible HbA1c improvement of 0.3 percent. How about I sell you my new head ache pills at £80 a pack, then tell you they only work when taken with aspirin, any takers ? I thought not.


Some type two meds come with black box cancer warnings, and some have killed so many people, they have been banned in many countries. Now a new wonder drug could be on its way, Linagliptin. So what does this new wonder drug and the salvation of type two diabetics achieve ?


“Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company announced Phase 3 study results for linagliptin 5 mg once-daily, which showed significant hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c or A1C) reduction of 0.88% compared to 0.24% in the placebo group (p=0.0002) at 24 weeks in black or African American adult patients with type 2 diabetes whose blood sugar was not adequately controlled.”  


0.88% reduction in HbA1c, less than a donut a day then. Seriously, one donut a day would raise my HbA1c more than 0.88%, so I will be giving donuts and Linagliptin a miss. Lets cut this new drug some slack, and say a diabetic with an HbA1c of 6 reducing down to almost 5 could see some long term benefits, but that’s not a typical case. Most diabetics are running high numbers, other than very well controlled insulin users or low carbers, or both. I reduced my HbA1c from almost 12 to 5.9 in three months, albeit with some help from Metformin. Met would have got me to around 10.5. Lowcarbing reduced HbA1c by roughly 5 points. Approximately 6 times more than this new drug can achieve, and cost me nothing. 


The last word to Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline, said “fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually derived any benefit from them”


It is an open secret within the drugs industry that most of its products are ineffective in most patients but this is the first time that such a senior drugs boss has gone public.  


Eddie


http://www.dddmag.com/news/2012/05/positive-results-linagliptin-trial

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1208-02.htm