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Slowing down type 2 diabetes
A study has shown that a certain type of drug can slow down the progression of type 2 diabetes by up to five years.
Newly diagnosed diabetics are able to slow down the progression of the disease by up to five years when using a type of medication.
This was the key point unveiled in a recent study, “A Diabetes Outcome Progression Trial” (Adopt) on the sidelines of the 19th World Diabetes Congress, held in Cape Town, South Africa.
The medication, rosiglitazone (a thiazolidinedione) was compared against two other drugs, metformin (a biguanide) and glyburide (a sulfonylurea) over a period of four years.
Results from the study showed that rosiglitazone slowed down the need for extra drug therapy by 60 months, while the delay when using metformin and glyburide were 45 and 33 months respectively.
It also concluded that rosiglitazone slowed the rate of loss of beta-cell function and improved insulin sensitivity to a greater extent than either metformin or glyburide.
Those who took part in the trial were aged between 30 and 75, diagnosed with the condition for less than three years.
They had to not be on any previous medication for diabetes and only on diet and lifestyle modification.
“The progress of type 2 diabetes can be slowed down. And this new finding brings a new level of understanding,” said Prof Giancarlo Viberti, co-chair of the study.
“Now we know we can slow the rate of progression by up to five years.”
The drugs were evaluated over four years of treatment involving more than 4,360 patients in 488 medical centres in the United States, Canada and 15 European countries.
After excluding nine patients who did not receive a study drug, 4,351 patients were evaluated in the safety analysis. There were 1,456 in the rosiglitazone group, 1,454 in the metformin group and 1,441 in the glyburide group.
After the withdrawal of 224 patients from the study before the first scheduled efficacy evaluation, there were a total of 4,127 patients (1,393 for rosiglitazone, 1,397 for metformin and 1,337 for glyburide)
The study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also stated that the therapeutic goal was a fasting plasma glucose level below 140mg per deciliter (7.8mmol per litre). Patients were monitored until the study was terminated in June last year.