Study Reveals Drug for Type 2 Diabetes Can Lower Heart Attack and Stroke Risks

A medication for Type 2 Diabetes has been recently discovered to prevent repeated stroke episodes and other cardiovascular events in people with diabetes and even those with insulin resistance. This breakthrough study hoped to suggest another solution to insulin problems.

The Insulin Resistance Intervention After Stroke (IRIS) trial, which was conducted with the support of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), revealed that the drug called Pioglitazone (Altos) can avert heart attacks and strokes in patients who are yet to develop diabetes. The National Institutes of Health said the prescription drug proved it can reverse insulin resistance or the medical problem where one's body produces insulin but is unable to effectively utilise it.

"This study represents a novel approach to prevent recurrent vascular events by reversing a specific metabolic abnormality thought to increase the risk of future heart attack or stroke," NINDS director Walter J. Koroshetz said. He is positive that many will find the drug helpful for their conditions.

The research, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, studied more than 3,000 individuals who have insulin resistance but have not yet developed diabetes. This condition is already common in people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, but it is also believed to be present in about 50 percent of non-diabetes patients who earlier suffered an ischemic stroke.

Each patient was required to take 45 milligrams of pioglatizone daily or placebo. After about 5 years of testing, the study claimed that 9 percent of those who took pioglitazone had a heart attack compared to the 11.8 percent of patients who were on placebo.

Medical Xpress noted that the decrease in the heart attack cases was relative at 24 percent. It also suggested that 28 stroke episodes or heart attacks can be thwarted using this drug for 1,000 patients in a span of five years. However, UPI said that the research also highlighted that pioglatizone can also cause weight gain, bone fracture and edema, but researchers remain positive that they will be able to reduce these negative effects of the drug in the coming months.

Endocrinologist Dr. Silvio Inzucchi at Yale University was glad of the results of the research proving that pioglatizone can bring good effects to those suffering from diabetes and potential patients of the disease. ""It's exciting to think that metabolic therapy may now be poised to take its place beside aspirin and cholesterol- and blood pressure-lowering therapies for preventing stroke in non-diabetic patients," he added.