Double Duty: Diabetes drug protects reopened heart vessels
By Nathan Seppa
A drug normally prescribed to hold blood sugar in check provides an unexpected benefit to heart patients, a new study from South Korea finds. In people who have undergone the blood vessel–opening procedure called angioplasty, the diabetes drug limits the propensity of vessels to close again, a chronic problem.
Moreover, this study and one done in the United States show that the drug, rosiglitazone, lowers blood concentrations of C-reactive protein, a compound that’s been linked to heart problems.