# New info on Fenfluramine



## Sandie S-R (Nov 9, 2008)

SOURCE: HEALTH DAY NEWS

Banned Obesity Drug Tied to Heart Risks Long After Use
Study shows appetite suppressant fenfluramine may damage cardiac 
valves years later 

FRIDAY, Nov. 7 (HealthDay News) -- One of the "fen/phen" drugs once 
widely prescribed to help fight obesity has been tied to heart valve 
damage that develops years after a person has stopped taking it, a 
new study reports. 

The appetite suppressant fenfluramine has been banned in the United 
States since 1997, because of its links to heart damage. Thousands 
of lawsuits have been filed against the drug's manufacturers over 
alleged damage it caused. 

In the new study, published Nov. 5 in the journal BMC Medicine, 
researchers looked at 5,743 people who had stopped using 
fenfluramine more than a decade earlier but had damaged heart valves 
up to seven years later. 

"Valve problems were common in individuals exposed to fenfluramines, 
more frequent in females, and associated with duration of drug use 
in all valves assessed," research leader Charles Dahl, from the 
Central Utah Clinic, said in a news release issued by the journal's 
publisher. 

Heart valves direct blood flow around the heart. If they fail, blood 
back-flows -- called regurgitation -- and can cause congestive heart 
failure and the need for heart valve surgery if severe enough. 

"We found clear evidence for a strong, graded association between 
duration of exposure to fenfluramines and prevalence of aortic 
regurgitation and for mild or greater mitral and tricuspid 
regurgitation, " Dahl said. 

In all, 0.44 percent of these former fenfluramine users had valve 
surgery resulting from the use of the drug, a sevenfold increase in 
the risk for this procedure. 

"This is probably a conservative estimate, as another study has 
shown that there exists a 17- to 34-fold excess of clinically 
apparent (presumably severe), valvular disease in persons who had 
used fenfluramines for four months or longer," the authors wrote. 

http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=621107


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## BigBeautifulMe (Nov 9, 2008)

Thanks for the info, Sandie. This must be really scary for anyone who has ever taken it. As a child, my doc had me on the "other half" of fen phen - phentermine - for well over a year, and I still wonder if someday we'll find out equally scary things about THAT drug. Grrr.


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## No-No-Badkitty (Nov 13, 2008)

Okay, am I reading that right? 0.44% That's less than 1% right?


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## Dr. Feelgood (Nov 13, 2008)

No-No-Badkitty said:


> Okay, am I reading that right? 0.44% That's less than 1% right?



Correctimundo! However, this is only the number who have had valve surgery. There could be lots more people out there walking around -- or pushing up daisies -- who never imagined they might have valve leakage. So if you know anybody who's taken fenfluramine, it might be good to suggest they have a checkup. Just in case.


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## No-No-Badkitty (Nov 14, 2008)

Dr. Feelgood said:


> Correctimundo! However, this is only the number who have had valve surgery. There could be lots more people out there walking around -- or pushing up daisies -- who never imagined they might have valve leakage. So if you know anybody who's taken fenfluramine, it might be good to suggest they have a checkup. Just in case.



While I am not for diet drugs and or surgery, I have to say that 1% isn't a big number and less than 1% well...need I say more.
ALL drugs have risks, many of them very serious and many of them have WAY higher incidence than 1%. And the majority of those side effects have no surgery to "correct" them.
Sooo...in the grand scheme of things...I do not see how they can demonize this drug for a less than 1% incidence...

I'm willing to bet that birthcontrol has killed/damaged more women with strokes.


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## SilkyAngela (Nov 20, 2008)

I took fen/phen for a short period in the early 90's and already had mitral valve prolapse before using them. I wonder if the drugs also worsen existing valve conditions.


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## HDANGEL15 (Dec 2, 2008)

*I was also a PHEN / FEN user in the early 90s and I lost an insane amount of weight for 3 minutes and was INSANE in the process...it was a nightmare....I heard all along that there were heart issues....*


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