"Certain Diabetes Meds Tied to Higher Odds for Amputation" - Dennis Thompson
A specific class of diabetes medication appears to double the risk of losing a leg or foot to amputation, a new study reports. People on sodium-glucose cotransporter2 (SGLT2) inhibitors were twice as likely to require a lower limb amputation as people taking another type of diabetes medication, Scandinavian researchers found. "The way this class of medications works is if you have higher blood sugars in you, it actually causes an increase in urination because that's how your body will dispose of the extra sugar," explained David Lam, MD, medical director of the Mount Sinai Clinical Diabetes Institute. The conflicting results between this observational study and previous clinical trials means doctors will have to take a patient-by-patient approach, Dr. Lam said. "You just need to think twice," Dr. Lam added. "If this patient has circulatory problems or an active foot ulcer, maybe we should think about a different agent for them."
— David W. Lam, MD, Medical Director, The Mount Sinai Clinical Diabetes Institute, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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