Death rates same for diabetes and heart disease patients receiving drug therapy ...( NEW ORLEANS June 7 There is no diff...),Health

NEW ORLEANS, June 7 There is no difference in mortality among patients with type 2 diabetes and stable heart disease who received prompt bypass surgery or angioplasty compared to drug therapy alone, according to a landmark study focused exclusively on patients with both conditions. The study, which was led by investigators at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, published in the June 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Diabetes Association 69th Scientific Sessions, also found that while prompt bypass in patients with more severe heart disease did not lower mortality, it lowered their risk of subsequent major cardiac events.

"More than 20 million Americans suffer from type 2 diabetes and many of these people also have heart disease," said Sheryl F. Kelsey, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study and professor of epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. "We began this study because we don't know how best to treat this deadly duo that is affecting more and more people at increasingly younger ages. Our results provide needed guidance about which approaches can best help these patients."

The Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) study began recruiting patients in 2001. The results are based on 2,368 patients with both type 2 diabetes and stable heart disease who were under a physician's care to control their cholesterol and blood pressure. Patients were randomized to receive drug therapy plus undergo prompt revascularization to restore blood floweither angioplasty to open blocked arteries or bypass surgery―or to receive drug therapy alone. The investigators also looked at which of two diabetes drug treatment strategies resulted in better outcomes insulin-providing (increasing the amount of insulin) or insulin-sensitizing (lowering the body's resistance to its own insulin, such as metformin or ro
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