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Profiles Of Drugs Didanosine And Abacavir Being Examined By FDA

Washington-Two of the better-known drugs that are commonly given to treat HIV: Abacavir and didanosine have apparently been shown to increase the risks for heart attack according to research from scientists in Europe.

Because of this the FDA has announced that it will take a fresh look at the two drugs. The Food and Drug Administration has said there is enough evidence to conduct a safety review of the two drugs in question.

People who have the HIV virus normally take a wide combination of anti retro viral drugs that include a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, such as abacavir or didanosine, and a protease inhibitor.

“We have looked at a variety of HIV drugs to see if risks for heart attack are present,” said Dr Jens D. Lundgren. Dr. Lundgren is a researcher for the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

“Two of the drugs that we have examined, didanosine and abacavir have shown an increased risk of heart attack in those patients we studied,” said Dr. Lundgren.

The actual amount of risk for each patient varies, and is based on a wide number of other patients. In some patients, there was little or no risk, in others the risk was marked.

The entire study is being published today in the Internet version edition of the medical journal “Lancet.”