posted 01/02/03
Diabetics are at a two- to four-fold higher risk for a heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular disease. A new study finds treatment with the drug, gemfibrozil, can reduce this risk in men with diabetes.
Gemfibrozil is used to control cholesterol in patients. Researchers from the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis conducted a study to determine if this drug would also be effective in diabetic men.
Investigators used data from a previous study that enrolled 2,531 men with coronary heart disease, a high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level of 40 mg/dL or less or a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level of 140 mg/dL or less. The participants received either gemfibrozil or a placebo and were followed for about five years. Researchers kept track of who suffered a heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death.
As past research has indicated, men with diabetes were at an increased risk of a cardiovascular event. Researchers also report men who did not have diabetes but did have a high fasting plasma insulin level were also at an increased risk for cardiovascular problems. The study found gemfibrozil was effective in men with diabetes, decreasing their risk for death from a heart attack by 41 percent. Furthermore, the drug was also effective in men with high fasting plasma insulin levels.
Researchers conclude gemfibrozil use significantly reduces the risk of major cardiovascular events in diabetic men with coronary heart disease. Researchers say these findings are important in light of the increase risk associated with diabetics and new prevention strategies to minimize that risk.
Source: Ivanhoe Newswire: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2002;162:2597-2604.
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