Diabetes patients starting out on GlaxoSmithKline drug Avandia have a better chance of keeping blood sugar levels within safe limits than those given older medicines, revealed after a clinical trial by Glaxo.
A clinical trial tracking patients for up to five years found the right medicines could slow the progress of type 2 diabetes significantly, holding out the prospect of better treatment.
Results from ADOPT (A Diabetes Outcome Progression Trial) demonstrated that initial treatment with Avandia? (rosiglitazone maleate) reduced the risk of monotherapy failure in people with type 2 diabetes by 32 percent compared to metformin (p<0.001), and 63 percent compared to glyburide (p<0.001) at five years.The results of this international study involving 4,360 people recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were today published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 19th World Diabetes Congress of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).