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HIV drugs under review for heart attack risk

Overseas research on two drugs used to combat HIV has shown they may increase the risk of heart attack by 50 percent.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the study involving 33,000 patients, which examined the drug marketed as ‘Ziagen’ (with the active compound, Abacavir) and ‘Videx’ (Didanosine), found both drugs had a greater chance of causing heart attack than other medications.

However, People Living with HIV/AIDS Victoria (PLWHA) President, Brett Hayhoe, says that the study is “incomplete” and currently a “wait and see” situation.

“They [the FDA] said the study was incomplete because it didn’t include a wide sample of drugs including blockbusters like ‘Tenofovir’ (Viread) and ‘Emtricitabine’ (Emtriva). There’s no point switching to a new drug if it turns out the other drug comes with the same risks,” Hayhoe said.

The surprise findings in the study were that “‘AZT’ (d4t) wasn’t associated with heart attack risk but ‘Abacavir’ and ‘Didanosine’ were,” he added.

In an announcement posted to its website, the FDA said it would make recommendations on the drugs after it completes its review.

“The study found an increase in relative risk, meaning the risk compared to other drugs,” Hayhoe explained.

“The absolute risk (actual likelihood per year) remains low and the increase in relative risk was only found in combination with other moderate to high level risks for heart attack, such as smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes, family history of heart disease, and older age.” 

PLWHA Victoria has advised HIV-positive people to “not stop taking these medications unless advised by your doctor”.

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