Type 2 Diabetes: Treatment and Prevention

[Angel]

Two new studies reveal promising new ways to treat and prevent type 2 diabetes. A drug used to treat type 2 diabetes may also be the way to prevent the disease from developing in people at high risk, reveals one of the studies. The other study demonstrates how a different medication can reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body's inability to efficiently use insulin. It often occurs in overweight people and can lead to many health problems, including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, blindness and early death. Cardiovascular disease is responsible for 50 percent to 80 percent of deaths in diabetic patients.

Canadian researchers report a drug called rosiglitazone (Avandia), which doctors already use to treat type 2 diabetes, can also prevent the disease from developing in high-risk patients. Pre-diabetic patients who took Avandia were significantly less likely to develop full-blown diabetes. Researchers write that for every 1,000 people treated with Avandia for three years, about 144 cases of diabetes will be prevented. It does, however, put people at a slightly higher risk of non-fatal heart failure.

In a second study, German researchers tested the diabetes drug pioglitazone HCl (ACTOS) on patients with the disease. It's been proven to help people control their diabetes, but the researchers wanted to know how the medication would affect the cardiovascular health of these patients.

Researchers report patients taking ACTOS had a 23-percent risk reduction in heart attacks compared to patients not taking the drug.