PARIS: Actos, a drug that is widely prescribed for Type 2 diabetes, also appears to lower the risk of dangerous cardiovascular problems among diabetics, according to a study published in the latest edition of The Lancet.

People with Type 2 diabetes run a high risk of a fatal or disabling stroke or heart attack — up to four times higher than the general population.

A “macrovascular event” is a major reason why a 40-year-old patient newly diagnosed with diabetes is likely to live some eight years less than a counterpart who does not have the disease.

More than 5,200 patients with Type 2 diabetes were enrolled in a long-term study to see if Actos, also known by its laboratory name as pioglitazone, could lower this risk in addition to its known function of controlling blood-glucose levels.

Half of the group was given Actos, while the other was given a harmless look-alike called a placebo. Their health was monitored for nearly three years on average.

Those who took Actos were 16 per cent less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke than the placebo group during this time. But they were also prone to gaining weight, which by itself is a source of cardiac stress: an additional four kilos (8.8 pounds) on average.

Type 2 diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States and other rich countries, driven mainly by a rise in obesity.

More than 150 million people are affected globally by the disease, which is linked to five million deaths annually, according to the World Health Organisation.

The numbers affected have almost tripled in half a century, from 55 million in 1955, and the likely figure in 2025 will be 300 million, it estimates.—AFP