Rational therapy for diabetes: early recognition of adverse effects and avoidance of disruptive false alarms

Corresponding to the uncontrolled diabetes pandemic, significant effort has been invested in developing new therapeutic options. Nevertheless, all medicines have possible adverse effects. Recently, a trend of scrutinizing novel hypoglycaemic drug side effects based on scant scientific data has emerged. With recent publications highlighting possible dangers of rosiglitazone, insulin glargine, sitagliptin, exenatide and, most recently, pioglitazone, it seems that all means are valid and that every database is suitable, even if specifically defined as inadequate for the purpose of data analysis. The use of such data may lead authors to draw erroneous conclusions that may be granted unwarranted impact upon publication in leading scientific journals and eventually lead patients and misinformed physicians to wrongly change beneficial medication regimes. Adherence to strict scientific methodology, ongoing large clinical trials and creating adjudicated patient databases may facilitate early recognition of adverse effects while avoiding disruptive false alarms. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.