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Research suggests fenofibrate may reduce risk of amputation in patients with type 2 diabetes.
By jeremyc | May 22, 2009
Dow Jones Newswires (5/22, Stovall) reports that “using fenofibrate to lower blood fats in people with type 2 diabetes reduces the risk of a first diabetes-related amputation by 36 percent, according to” research published in the Lancet.
The AP (5/22, Cheng) explains that investigators followed nearly “10,000 patients aged 50 to 75 with type 2 diabetes, the kind linked to obesity.” Approximately “half of the patients were given fenofibrate,” while the other participants were given a placebo. The researchers said that “after five years, 115 patients had at least one lower limb amputation because of diabetes.” The AP adds that “the study, first published in 2005, aimed to see if fenofibrate prevented heart disease. It didn’t.” However, “in this new analysis, experts found patients on fenofibrate had a…lower risk of a first amputation than those on placebo.”
WebMD (5/21, Doheny) pointed out that “overall, the risk of first amputation was 36 percent lower for all patients given fenofibrate compared to those given placebo.” While “70 of those on placebo had amputation, 45 of those on the drug did.” Meanwhile, “the risk of minor amputation in patients who did not have large vessel disease was even lower, 47 percent, for those who took the drug compared to those who got the placebo.”
According to MedPage Today (5/21, Neale), “although the mechanism of action remains unclear,” the researchers “said it is unlikely that it involves lipids, because none of the lipid variables were associated with the risk of amputation after controlling for several factors.” Reuters (5/22, Lyn) and HealthDay (5/21, Preidt) also covered the story.
Topics: | Diabetes |
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