Drug May Help To Prevent Diabetes

A diabetes drug sold outside the United States may help to prevent the disease in people at risk, a study suggests. The study included 1,780 people in Japan. All had high blood sugar, but not as high as people with diabetes. This is called pre-diabetes. People with pre-diabetes are more likely to develop diabetes. People in the study were randomly divided into two groups. One group took voglibose three times a day. The other took fake pills that looked the same (placebos). Fifty people in the voglibose group developed diabetes within three years. This compares with 106 in the placebo group. People taking voglibose also were more likely to reduce blood sugar to normal levels. The journal Lancet published the study online. Reuters Health news service wrote about it April 21.