Anti-inflammatory Drug May Raise Diabetes Risk

A commonly prescribed anti-inflammatory may increase the risk of diabetes after just one week of treatment, according to new findings presented at The Society for Endocrinology Annual Conference. Healthy men given doses of the drug comparable to those used to treat inflammatory disorders had changes in markers of blood sugar metabolism associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes. The study findings highlight the potential long-term health implications for people regularly taking these drugs and that medical professionals may need to consider and monitor the potential side-effects, to avoid future debilitating conditions. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are one of the most commonly prescribed anti-inflammatories for conditions such as arthritis, asthma, allergies and adrenal insufficiency. GC treatment at high doses for a long duration is known to be associated with metabolic side-effects that may increase risk of diabetes and obesity but there are currently no studies examining the short-term effects of GCs at the more regularly prescribed, lower doses. As 2-3% of the UK population take GCs for conditions of varying severity, it is important to investigate whether these metabolic side-effects occur in lower dose, short-term therapy. Dr Riccardo Pofi, from Sapienza University of Rome and Prof Jeremy Tomlinson from the University of Oxford, measured markers of metabolism in healthy men given commonly prescribed doses (10 and 15mg) of GCs (prednisolone) after just one week of treatment. Although commonly checked clinical and biochemical parameters such as fasting blood sugar levels, weight and general health was unaffected, changes in metabolic markers indicated that their blood sugar regulation was impaired.