Study: Drug Combo Helps Prevent Diabetes

A combination of diabetes drugs can help to prevent the disease in people at high risk, a new study concludes. The 207 people in the study had above-normal blood sugar, but it was not high enough to diagnose diabetes. This is called pre-diabetes. It often leads to diabetes. Everyone in the study took part in a program to encourage exercise and weight loss. These changes can help to prevent diabetes. People also were randomly assigned into two groups. One group got low doses of metformin and rosiglitazone (Avandia). These drugs reduce blood sugar in different ways. The other group received placebo (fake) pills. Researchers kept track of people for an average of four years. In that time, 14% of those who received the real drugs and 39% of the placebo group developed diabetes. Blood sugar fell to normal levels in about 80% of the treated group and 53% of the placebo group.