Side Effects:

Common Weight gain, Blurred vision, Respiratory tract infection, Numbness, Bone fracture.

Expert advice for Pioglar Tablet
Pioglar helps to control blood sugar level and avoids long-term complications. You should continue to exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, and take your other diabetes medicines along with Pioglar. Full effect may be visible after several weeks of starting Pioglar. Weight gain, headache, and swelling due to fluid build-up may occur. Notify your doctor if you experience shortness of breath, heart problems, or any abnormal swelling. May not be suitable for patients with a history of heart failure or bladder cancer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is Pioglar a blood thinner?
No. Pioglar is an anti-diabetic medication. Blood thinners are the medicine that prevents the formation of a harmful blood clot. These include medicines like Aspirin, Heparin and Warfarin.

Q. Is Pioglar a diuretic?
No. Pioglar is not a diuretic. It is used in the treatment of Diabetes Mellitus. Diuretics are those medicine which increases urination.

Q. Can Pioglar used in Hepatitis B infection?
Some studies have shown that Pioglar may be helpful in preventing Hepatitis B Virus-associated Hepatocellular Cancer (Liver Cancer). However, these findings are still very preliminary and clear role has not been established.

Q. Can Pioglar used in Hepatitis C infection?
Pioglar has been shown to inhibit Liver Cancer (HCC) recurrence in overweight Hepatitis C Virus-infected diabetic patients. It also improved insulin resistance (a state where the body is resistant to the effects and functions of the insulin hormone) in them.

Q. Can Pioglar used along with Vitamin D?
Studies indicate that Vitamin-D combined with Pioglar may be more effective in improving Bone Mineral Density and Bone Metabolism than Vitamin-D or Pioglar alone in the treatment of Diabetes Mellitus patients with kidney dysfunction (Diabetic Nephropathy).

Q. Can Pioglar be used along with sitagliptin?
Combination therapy with Sitagliptin and Pioglar leads to a substantial and sustained improvement in glycemic (blood sugar) control compared to the treatment with Pioglar alone. This is useful for patients who cannot tolerate Metformin or Sulfonylureas.

Q. Is there any role of Pioglar in Alzheimer disease?
Recent evidence suggests that Pioglar may be beneficial in Alzheimer's disease (AD), decreasing the cognitive decline early in the disease process. However, larger studies are now in progress to establish the same.

Q. Can Pioglar and repaglinide combined in diabetes treatment?
For patients who previously failed oral antidiabetic therapy, the combination of Repaglinide and Pioglar have acceptable safety, with greater reductions of glycemic parameters (blood sugar levels) than using either agent alone.

Q. Does Pioglar cause urinary bladder tumour?
Large population studies indicate that Pioglar is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. The absence of an association of bladder cancer with the other drug of the same class, Rosiglitazone, suggests that the increased risk is drug specific and not a class effect.

Q. Are Pioglar and rosiglitazone same?
Pioglar & Rosiglitazone both belong to a class of antidiabetics called Thiazolidinediones. Rosiglitazone has been removed from the market because using this drug was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. This is not seen with Pioglar.

Q. Can Pioglar be used along with glimepiride in diabetes?
Pioglar when added to Glimepiride in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus, has been found to significantly reduce plasma lipid levels and significant improvement in blood pressure control related to a reduction in the insulin resistance.

Q. Is Pioglar a steroid?
No. Pioglar is not a steroid. It is an anti-diabetic medication which belongs to the class of thiazolidinediones.

Q. How to use Pioglar?
Pioglar is an anti-diabetes drug used along with a proper diet and exercise program to control high blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes. Pioglar acts as an insulin sensitizer and decreases the extent of insulin resistance in the body too.

Q. How safe is Pioglar?
Pioglar cardiovascular safety profile compares favourably with that of Rosiglitazone. Pioglar has been found to be associated with bladder tumours but causality assessment has not been proved yet.

Q. How does Pioglar cause oedema?
Pioglar increases the permeability of fluid in tiny blood vessels called capillaries. This results in easier movement of fluids across the membrane and their consequent accumulation, resulting in oedema (puffiness). Also, Pioglar causes increased sodium and water reabsorption from the kidney that contributes to the oedema.

Q. How does Pioglar cause bladder cancer?
The mechanism behind the link between Pioglar use and bladder cancer is still unknown. Studies have suggested that use of Pioglar for more than one year results in increased risk of development of tumour of the urinary bladder.

Q. How does Pioglar cause heart failure?
Pioglar can cause fluid retention and edema. Consequently, there is a lot of fluid in the body (fluid overload). As a result, it may precipitate heart failure (which worsens with fluid overload in those at risk).

Q. How Pioglar protects against atherosclerosis?
Studies in animals have concluded that Pioglar improves the elasticity of the aortic wall ( the aorta is a large blood vessel that arises from the heart and supplies oxygenated blood to the rest of the body). This may be a mechanism by which it protects against atherosclerosis, but more studies are needed to confirm this.

Q. Can Pioglar be used with insulin?
The addition of Pioglar reduces daily insulin dosages, but study findings have not been consistent. Improvement of lipid profiles has also been weak with this combination therapy. Long-term studies are needed before any conclusions can be reached. Combination therapy should be primarily used for patients who achieve an insufficient reduction in blood sugar with insulin alone.

Q. Which is not safe in heart failure, Pioglar or rosiglitazone?
Pioglar & Rosiglitazone both belong to a class of antidiabetics called Thiazolidinediones. Rosiglitazone has been removed from the market because using this drug was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. Pioglar can cause heart failure too, but the risk is less that that with Rosiglitazone. Both the medicines should be avoided in heart failure.

Q. What are the alternatives to Pioglar?
Fortunately, there are many alternatives to Pioglar- Metformin, Acarbose, Sitagliptin, Exenatide, Insulin or combination therapies of these medicines can be used.

Q. Can Pioglar used for dementia?
Findings indicate that Pioglar treatment is associated with a reduced dementia risk in Diabetes mellitus patients. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate a possible neuroprotective effect in these patients in an ageing population.

Q. Can Pioglar used for infertility?
Pioglar may be of use in infertile patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who are resistant to conventional ovulation induction such as by drugs like Clomiphene, Dexamethasone, or Metformin.

Q. Can Pioglar used for psoriasis?
The use of Pioglar for plaque psoriasis treatment is controversial. Some studies revealed no effect of Pioglar 30 mg daily neither on the clinical response of moderate-to-severe psoriasis whereas others demonstrate that it could be considered as an efficacious and safe agent for the treatment of plaque psoriasis.

Q. Can Pioglar used for autism?
In a research study in a small number of autistic children, daily treatment with 30 or 60 mg Pioglar for 3–4 months induced apparent clinical improvement. Pioglar should be considered for further testing of therapeutic potential in autistic patients but as of now, autism is not an approved indication for Pioglar use.

Q. Can Pioglar be used in depression?
Pioglar, either alone or as add-on therapy to conventional treatments, could clinically benefit patients of major depression according to a study.

Q. Can Pioglar used for weight loss?
A recent study shows that although Pioglar causes a significant decrease in blood sugar, HbA1C and lipid levels, it is associated with weight gain, which would limit its utility. It has not been shown to cause weight loss.

Q. Can Pioglar be used to treat fatty liver?
Pioglar has also been used to treat non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (fatty liver), but this use is presently considered experimental.

Q. Can Pioglar be used for secondary stroke prevention?
Pioglar reduces recurrent stroke and major vascular events in stroke patients with insulin resistance, prediabetes, and diabetes mellitus. However, its use as a preventive therapy requires more research.