Popular Diabetes Drug Linked to Women's Fracture Risk

A new study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism has linked the use of a commonly prescribed diabetes medication to an increased risk of fracture in older women.

The study's authors found that women who take thiazolidinedione (or TZD) have a 50% increase in the risk of bone fractures after one year on the drug. Women over the age of 65 were at particularly high risk. The authors also discovered that these fractures occurred in unusual places. The greatest percentage of fractures in the elderly occur in the hip or vertebra, yet TZD was associated with increased fractures in the upper and distal lower extremities.

Men were also included in the study's subject pool, but did not appear to be affected by TZD in the same way.

To view the study's abstract, click here.