Health Centres - Avandia
How does it work?
Avandia tablets contain the active ingredient rosiglitazone maleate, which is an antidiabetic medicine used to treat people with type 2 or non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM).
People with diabetes mellitus have a deficiency or absence of a hormone produced by the pancreas called insulin. Insulin is the main hormone responsible for the control of sugar in the blood. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce sufficient insulin and the cells of the body are resistant to the low levels of insulin circulating in the blood. Insulin would normally make the cells remove sugar from the blood, hence in type 2 diabetes blood sugar levels can rise too high.
Rosiglitazone is a type of antidiabetic medicine known as a thiazolidinedione or glitazone. It helps to lower blood sugar levels by increasing the sensitivity of liver, fat and muscle cells to insulin. This enables these cells to remove sugar from the blood more effectively.
Rosiglitazone also preserves the functioning of the cells in the pancreas (beta cells) that produce insulin.
The overall effect of this medicine is therefore to help the body control blood sugar levels and prevent them becoming too high.
What is it used for?
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Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes
Rosiglitazone is used to treat people with type 2 diabetes, particularly overweight people, whose blood sugar is not sufficiently controlled by diet and exercise alone, and who cannot take metformin. (Metformin is the standard first-line medicine for overweight people with type 2 diabetes whose blood sugar is not controlled by diet alone.)
Rosiglitazone can also used for people with type 2 diabetes whose blood sugar is not controlled by the maximum doses of either metformin, or another type of antidiabetic medicine known as a sulphonylurea, for example gliclazide. In these cases rosiglitazone is added to treatment with the oral antidiabetic already being taken.
Rosiglitazone can be used as dual therapy in combination with metformin (particularly in overweight people), as dual therapy in combination with a sulphonylurea (only in people who cannot take metformin), or as triple therapy in combination with metformin AND a sulphonylurea.
Warning!
- You should have a blood test to check your liver function before starting treatment with this medicine and your liver function should be monitored regularly during treatment. Consult your doctor if you develop any of the following symptoms while taking this medicine, as they may be signs of liver problems: unexplained nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, darkened urine, or yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes (jaundice).
- This medicine may cause women who have stopped ovulating, for example due to polycystic ovary syndrome, to start ovulating again. These women will therefore need to use contraception to prevent pregnancy.
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