Scientists warn type 2 diabetics at risk of cardiac arrest risk from common drugs

Millions of Brits with type 2 diabetes may be at greater risk of cardiac arrest if they take certain commonly prescribed drugs, a study has found.

Researchers from the Netherlands found that those taking certain antibiotics, anti-sickness drugs and antipsychotics were twice as likely to suffer from this condition – when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body.

This was the case even in patients who had no history of cardiovascular disease, they said.

While factors such as high blood pressure, smoking and lack of exercise are known to increase the risk of cardiac arrest, the risks of these drugs are less known, researchers warned.

Diabetes is now a ‘rapidly escalating crisis’ in Britain as the number of people with the condition is expected to surpass five million for the first time

The researchers from the Amsterdam UMC medical center assessed the GP data of 689 people with type 2 diabetes who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest between 2010 and 2019.

Just over half – 352 – had a history of cardiovascular disease, while the remaining 337 did not.

The team compared these with the health records of 3,230 controls – people without type 2 diabetes.

Some common medications, including a prokinetic drug called domperidone – an anti-disease drug – antibiotics including marcolides and fluoroquinolones, as well as the antipsychotic haloperidol, have been found to increase the risk of cardiac arrest.

The researchers found that in people without cardiovascular disease, taking the antipsychotic medication increased their risk by 187 percent.

Meanwhile, the two antibiotics increased their risk by 66 percent.

Taking the prokinetic medication increased the risk of people with type 2 diabetes suffering sudden cardiac arrest by 66 percent, regardless of whether they had a history of cardiovascular disease.

The researchers say the effect is due to the fact that these drugs lengthen the heart’s QTc interval.

This is a measurement of the electrical activity associated with the contraction of heart muscle cells.

Other factors that increased their risk of a fatal heart event included low blood sugar (150 percent), severely high blood pressure (121 percent) and high cholesterol (64 percent).

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Hamburg.

Commenting on the study, lead author Peter Harms, a cardiovascular disease researcher at Amsterdam UMC, said: ‘GPs will already be aware that classic cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest in people with type 2 diabetes. .

‘However, the connection with low fasting glucose and antibiotics, antipsychotics and prokinetic medications is less known.

‘Our results underline the need for general practitioners to be aware of the dangers of overly strict glycemic control and prescribing commonly used antibiotics, antipsychotics and prokinetics.’

Glycemic control refers to maintaining blood sugar levels within desired levels to prevent both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia – low blood sugar and high blood sugar.

Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death.

According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), there are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK every year and only one in ten patients survive.

Nearly 4.3 million people were living with diabetes in 2021/2022, the latest figures for Great Britain also show.

And another 850,000 people have diabetes and are completely unaware of it.

This worries health officials because untreated type 2 diabetes can lead to complications, including heart disease and stroke.

About 90 percent of diabetes cases are type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity and typically diagnosed in middle age, rather than type 1 diabetes, a genetic condition usually diagnosed early in life.

Type 2 diabetes increases an individual’s risk for a range of complications, including heart attack and stroke, kidney problems and cancer.