Diabetes Drug Linked to Heart Outcomes

Diabetes Drug also Affect Coronary Arteries
For the first time, a drug that is used to lower blood sugar in diabetes has been found to halt the progression of plaque buildup in coronary arteries. A study led by Steven Nissen, MD, chair of Cardiovascular Medicine, compared use of pioglitazone and glimepiride in 543 patients with Type 2 diabetes. While both drugs lowered blood sugar levels to a similar extent, patients treated with glimepiride showed progression of coronary plaque whereas pioglitazone-treated patients actually showed a slight decrease 
in plaque.
While all diabetes treatments lower blood sugar, this is the first diabetes treatment to be specifically linked to heart- related outcomes.