Metformin: Safer for Heart Than Older Diabetes Drugs? June 28, 2011 (San Diego) -- Older people with type 2 diabetes who take an older class of oral diabetes drugs called sulfonylureas may have a higher risk of developing heart problems than those who take metformin.

In a two-year study of 8,502 people with type 2 diabetes aged 65 and older, 12.4% of those who started therapy with a sulfonylurea drug had a heart attack or other heart problem, compared with 10.4% of those who started with metformin.

Additionally, people taking sulfonylurea drugs experienced heart problems sooner after starting treatment than those taking metformin.

"The findings are important because older patients with diabetes are at particular risk for cardiovascular disease, and sulfonylureas continue to remain a commonly used medication in this population," says researcher Alex Z. Fu, PhD, an associate faculty member in the department of quantitative health sciences at the Cleveland Clinic.

Sulfonylurea drugs, which include chlorpropamide, glyburide, glipizide, tolazamide, and tolbutamide, are often one of the first medications prescribed to lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes, he says.

The findings were presented here at the 71st Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

Slideshow: Blood Sugar Control and Insulin