Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Millions of people with diabetes take medicine to ease the shooting, burning nerve pain that their disease can cause. And new research suggests that no matter which medicine their doctor prescribes, they'll get relief.
But some of those medicines cost nearly 10 times as much as others, apparently with no major differences in how well they ease pain, say a pair of University of Michigan Medical School experts in a new commentary in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
That makes cost—not effect—a crucial factor in deciding which medicine to choose for diabetic neuropathy, or diabetes nerve pain, the U-M researchers say.
Their commentary accompanies a paper from Mayo Clinic researchers and their colleagues, who analyzed a wide range of data from clinical trials of different treatments for painful diabetic neuropathy. The Mayo-led team concluded that several options appear to work well, though they need to be compared head-to-head to tell for sure which is best.
Until new studies can make those head-to-head comparisons, say the U-M experts, doctors should consider the cost of the drug, and any other conditions a patient has, when deciding what to prescribe.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-11-effect-cheaper-remedies-diabetes-nerve.html
But some of those medicines cost nearly 10 times as much as others, apparently with no major differences in how well they ease pain, say a pair of University of Michigan Medical School experts in a new commentary in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
That makes cost—not effect—a crucial factor in deciding which medicine to choose for diabetic neuropathy, or diabetes nerve pain, the U-M researchers say.
Their commentary accompanies a paper from Mayo Clinic researchers and their colleagues, who analyzed a wide range of data from clinical trials of different treatments for painful diabetic neuropathy. The Mayo-led team concluded that several options appear to work well, though they need to be compared head-to-head to tell for sure which is best.
Until new studies can make those head-to-head comparisons, say the U-M experts, doctors should consider the cost of the drug, and any other conditions a patient has, when deciding what to prescribe.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-11-effect-cheaper-remedies-diabetes-nerve.html