Diabetes drug helpful against heart attacks and strokes

Doctors note that pioglitazone reduces cardiovascular disease
Diabetes is a condition that greatly affects the lives of those affected. Diabetes can lead to serious sequelae. Thus, it is not surprising that researchers work on drugs to treat this disease. Now scientists have discovered that a diabetes medicine can also help reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks.
Sometimes researchers discover that medicines for certain diseases also affect other diseases. Yale University physicians have now found in a study that the drug pioglitazone can help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Usually, this drug is used in diabetes. The scientists published the results of their investigation in the medical journal "New England Journal of Medicine".

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Pioglitazone reduces the likelihood of cardiovascular disease by nine percent
The drug pioglitazone is commonly used in diabetes, but it may seem like much more. The remedy helps lower the risk of strokes and heart attacks, the researchers say. These are one of the leading causes of disability and death worldwide. The researchers studied nearly 4,000 subjects who were not diagnosed with diabetes. However, the subjects were insulin-resistant for five years and received either pioglitazone or a placebo. When subjects received the placebo, they had a 11.8 percent chance of either suffering a stroke or a heart attack. This value was nine percent lower when the subjects received the drug, say the experts.

Pioglitazone prevents stroke or heart attack in three out of every 100 people affected
When the subjects took pioglitazone, their chances of getting diabetes also fell. About four percent of the people who used the drug were suffering from diabetes. When the subjects got the placebo, seven percent developed diabetes, explain the physicians. Pioglitazone was developed as a therapy to improve insulin sensitivity, the researchers explain. The drug can prevent cardiovascular events in patients who suffer from insulin resistance along with a cerebrovascular disease, the experts explain. The use of pioglitazone in 100 patients over a period of approximately five years could prevent stroke or heart attack in three patients.

The anti-diabetes drug, however, appears to increase bone fracture risk
Scientists have long known that insulin resistance increases our risk of stroke and heart attack. But the new study also shows the other benefits of taking medicines for insulin resistance, which can help prevent dangerous strokes and heart attacks, say the doctors. For years, there has been controversy over whether pioglitazone helps against such diseases. Now the cardiovascular benefits have finally been proven, says dr. Silvio Inzucchi, from Yale University. The so-called metabolic therapy could now take its place next to aspirin and cholesterol and blood pressure lowering agents to prevent strokes in non-diabetic patients, explains the physician. The study also found risks associated with taking the medication. The remedy appears to increase the risk of bone fracture requiring either hospitalization or surgery. In addition, weight gain and edema were seen in patients, Dr. Inzucchi. Despite the side effects, the study identifies pioglitazone as a new option for prevention, adds the expert.