Researchers say they might now have a new weapon to their arsenal against type 2 diabetes. A drug used to combat high triglycerides also appears to lower the risk of diabetes in heart disease patients.
For the study researchers compared results between mostly male heart attack patients who received either a daily dose of the triglyceride-lowering drug bezafibrate or a placebo. All were followed for about six years. Men taking bezafibrate, which also lowers LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol and increases HDL (or “good”) cholesterol, were about 30-percent less likely to develop diabetes. If they did develop diabetes, it was about a year later than the men on the placebo developed the condition.Researchers say, they found that a significant portion of the men in both groups did go on to develop diabetes, which is common in people with heart disease. However, they believe these results suggest there may be hope for delaying or preventing the condition with the use of drug therapy. However the Diabetes Prevention Program results have shown that individualized, systematic, and intensive lifestyle interventions are the most effective means of preventing type 2 diabetes in general high-risk populations.
