DRUGS WITH HYPERGLYCEMIC EFFECTS

Fortuitous discovery of hyperglycemia in a patient under medications k nown to interfere with glucose metabolism is a common problem. Most of these patients have glucose intolerance due to a number of factors in cluding overweight, hypertension, and a positive family history for di abetes mellitus. Drugs with well-documented diabetes-generating effect s include glucocorticosteroids, beta 2-agonists, estrogen-progestagen combinations, and, to a lesser extent diuretics (whose ability to indu ce hyperglycemia is controversial); pentamidine and octreotide have po tent hyperglycemic effects but are less infrequently used drugs. A tab le recapitulates the many other drugs for which a hyperglycemic effect has been reported. The clinical relevance of this effect is evaluated .