New research finds that the banned appetite suppressant drug may cause damage to heart valves long after use has stopped. The new study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, reviewed the history of 5,743 people who had not taked the drug fenfluramine for more than a decade.

“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 said in a news release.

“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.

Regurgitation happens when a heart valve fails and blood flows in the wrong direction. Regurgitation can result in cause congestive heart failure.

Links to heart damage resulted in the drug being banned in the United States in 1997.

Source
BMC Medicine