Diabetes News:

Acarbose May Help Delay Development of Type 2 Diabetes

A drug that blocks the digestion of starch may help prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes in patients with slightly elevated blood sugar levels, according to a study published in The Lancet.

Pre-diabetics who took acarbose (Precose) cut their chances of developing diabetes by 25 percent, according to Canadian and European researchers.

Arcarbose works in the intestine, slowing down the digestion of carbohydrates, and lengthening the time it takes for carbohydrates to convert to glucose, thereby facilitating better blood glucose control. It primarily influences the level of blood sugar after eating.

Researchers randomly gave 1,368 patients with impaired glucose tolerance either 100 mg of arcarbose or a placebo three times daily. A total of 211 patients taking acarbose and 130 taking the placebo discontinued treatment early. Thirty-two percent (221) of the patients taking acarbose and 42 percent (285) of the patients taking the placebo developed diabetes.

Also, acarbose significantly reversed impaired glucose tolerance to normal glucose tolerance. At the end of the study, treatment with a placebo for 3 months was linked with an increase in impaired glucose tolerance developing into diabetes.

Arcarbose has been approved for the treatment of diabetes for nearly a decade and is used alone or in combination with other diabetes drugs. The most common side effects of the drug include diarrhea and flatulence.

"Arcarbose could be used, either as an alternative or in addition to changes in lifestyle, to delay development of type 2 diabetes in patients with impaired glucose tolerance," concluded the researchers.

Source: Medical Week staff, week of July 7, 2002