Diabetes Prevention?
A new study seems to indicate that the diabetes drug Avandia can do more than treat diabetes type 2. It may actually be able to prevent it.
The Lancet reports that 5,269 adults with pre-diabetes were divided into two groups. One group was given a placebo, the other was given Avandia. 200 patients taking Avandia developed type 2 diabetes while 658 patients taking a placebo went on to develop the disease. These results indicate that taking Avandia may prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes in two-thirds of pre-diabetes patients. These results are slightly higher than with strict lifestyle changes, such as losing weight and adding exercise.
Dr. Alvin Powers at Vanderbilt University also hesitated to call this a breakthrough. “This is very important data. More research is needed to determine how this drug should be applied in diabetes prevention.”
