Taking This Common Prescription Drug Might Reduce Type 2 Diabetes Risk by 53%
Usually we think that prescription drugs can only treat one disease or health condition. But, you’d be surprised to know that alendronate, a common drug such taken for osteoporosis, can have an added benefit for your overall health. A recent study offers some promising findings suggesting that it may lower the chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 53 percent!
New research set to be published in Diabetologia, looked at the improvements for diabetes risk when taking alendronate over a 10-year period from 2008 to 2018. The study included 163,588 patients with type 2 diabetes and 490,764 people without diabetes with an average age of 67. Researchers were curious about this connection because previous studies have noted that type 2 diabetes can impair bone formation due to inflammation and lead to fractures.
Researchers found that taking alendronate for at least eight years cut the risk of type 2 diabetes compared to those who hadn’t taken the drug. Also, those without diabetes were 34 percent less likely to be diagnosed with the disease by the end of the study period after taking alendronate. The study’s authors concluded that the longer the person took the drug, the lower their likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes was.
They believed that this was due to the drug’s ability to lower inflammation and oxidative stress, both of which are linked to triggering insulin resistance. This positive effect keeps blood sugar under control and helps ward off diabetes. Researchers are hopeful that this study will provide a new solution for avoiding type 2 diabetes altogether: “We believe that doctors should consider this when prescribing osteoporosis drugs to those with pre-diabetes or at high risk of type 2 diabetes.”
Chatting with your doctor can give you more insight into whether alendronate would be a good fit for you. In the meantime, simple diet tweaks like snacking on nuts, hummus, and protein bars and eating dinner earlier will give a helping hand with taming your blood sugar throughout the day. Also, getting some shut-eye before the clock hits 10 pm has been shown to slash type 2 diabetes risk!
It’s nice to know that a common drug you might be already taking can have an added benefit for better health in the long run. Plus, that there so many ways we can adjust our lifestyle to prevent diabetes!
