Scientists claim to be developed a drug which can fight both heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Results from early trials of the drug — designed to improve levels of “good” cholesterol — revealed it stabilises blood sugar levels and reduces risk of heart disease, say the scientists at Sydney University.
“Good” cholesterol is important as it slows down the hardening of the arteries, lowering levels of heart problems. In fact, in their research, the scientists have found that the drug, torcetrapib, improved blood sugar control when patients took it alongside statin medicine. They say it could give patients “real benefits”.
Two further drugs in the same class, dalcetrapib and anaecetrapib, are now being developed, British newspaper the Daily Mail reported.
The clinical trial involved more than 15,000 people ages 45 to 75, who all had a history of heart attack, stroke, chest pain, peripheral vascular disease or angioplasty. The results revealed 7,000 with Type 2 diabetes showed improved blood su-gar control. Lead scientist Prof. Philip Barter has des-cribed the findings, publis-hed in the Circulation: Jou-rnal of the American Heart Association, as “an exciting prospect that may translate into real health benefits for people with diabetes”.
He added that the experimental drug was not as effective in tackling diabetes as other drugs, but had the potential to prevent the disease worsening. However, a spokesman for the British Heart Foundation said it was too early to say whether these further drugs would be effective.