Certain antihypertensive drugs may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in millions of people worldwide, according to a study by British researchers in the medical journal The Lancet.
Doctors have been prescribing cheap blood pressure medications to reduce the chance of a life-threatening heart attack or stroke. However, the question remains unanswered so far whether these drugs can also prevent the development of type 2 diabetes.
Researchers have now found that the protective effect of these drugs is much broader than previously thought. According to the study, some of these drugs can directly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The study by researchers from the University of Oxford and Bristol is the largest such study: they analyzed the data of more than 145,000 people participating in 19 global randomized clinical trials conducted over an average of five years.
Reducing systolic blood pressure by 5 mm Hg – easily achieved with blood pressure medication or lifestyle changes – reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 11 percentt. According to the scientists’ results, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) and angiotensin-II receptor blockers (ARBs) have the strongest protective effect. Both reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes by 16 percent. This could not be demonstrated for calcium channel blockers.
However, beta-blockers and thiazide diuretics have been shown to increase the risk of diabetes, despite their well-known beneficial effects in preventing heart attack and stroke.
Source: www.patikamagazin.hu
