A new obesity pill that helps to control blood sugar levels could treat patients with type 2 diabetes, researchers say. They found that the Sanofi-Aventis drug Acomplia, which is also known as rimonabant, also reduced risk factors for heart disease in patients with type 2 diabetes who had not responded to standard treatments.
“These findings support the use of 20 milligrams per day of rimonabant, in addition to diet and exercise, as a new approach to reduce body weight and improve blood glucose control as well as other cardiovascular risk factors in overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes,” said Professor Andre Scheen of the University of Liege in Belgium.
Reducing weight and controlling glucose levels is important because diabetics have an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney damage and nerve disorder that can lead to foot ulceration and amputations.