NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with diabetes taking a so-called "glitazone" type of anti-diabetes pill appear to have a modest increase in risk of developing macular edema in which fluid accumulates in the part of the retina responsible for central vision, according to new study findings.

The most widely prescribed glitazone drug is probably Actos, known generically as pioglitazone. Another popular drug, Avandia (a.k.a. rosiglitazone) was hit by safety concerns a year or so ago.

The current study is not the first to suggest a link between glitazones and macular edema, but it is the largest.

Drs. Donald S. Fong and Richard Contreras with Southern California Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena looked at data on some 143,000 patients treated with diabetes medications from 2002 to 2006. Of these subjects, about 17,000 were treated with a glitazone drug, mainly pioglitazone.

In 2006, 59,000 of the subjects had at least one eye exam, and this turned up almost 1000 new cases of macular edema, according to the report in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

On initial analysis, individuals taking a glitazone were 160 percent more likely to develop macular edema than were those on other types of medication.

After taking account of other factors that could increase the risk of eye problems, the researchers calculate that taking a glitazone increased the odds of macular edema by 60 percent.

The findings, they conclude, confirm "an association between glitazone use and macular edema." They suggest ophthalmologists treating patients with diabetes-related macular edema "should consider the role of the glitazone class of drugs."

SOURCE: American Journal of Ophthalmology, April 2009.

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