International Study Shows Drug Prevents Most Life-Threatening Common Complication in Diabetics LONDON, March 22 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- The following press release was issued today by the DAIS Study Investigators: An international study published today (Friday, 23rd March 2001) in The Lancet shows that a well-established drug --- fenofibrate -- significantly reduces the risk of atherosclerosis -- the leading cause of potentially fatal events in millions of people with type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Atherosclerosis Intervention Study (DAIS) was undertaken at the request of, and in collaboration with the World Health Organisation. It showed that fenofibrate reduces progression of atherosclerosis -- the narrowing of the arteries -- by up to 42 per cent. This is achieved by correcting the blood lipid abnormalities which commonly occur in patients with diabetes, i.e. by increasing levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, the "good" cholesterol) and decreasing the levels of two "bad" cholesterols -- triglycerides and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). DAIS was designed as an angiographic study in order to provide its information more quickly and with fewer patients than needed in a clinical event study. Hence, although it showed a 23% reduction in clinical coronary events in those receiving the active form of fenofibrate, the study was too short and had too few participants to make this statistically significant. DAIS, undertaken in 418 men and women in Canada, France and Scandinavia, is the first study to specifically evaluate the benefits of correcting lipid abnormalities in type 2 diabetes. The Project Director, Professor George Steiner, Toronto General Hospital, Canada, said: "DAIS has major implications for public health worldwide. There is an epidemic of diabetes. By the year 2010, there will be 239 million people with diabetes in the world. Approximately 80% of these people will have type 2 diabetes, a form which is generally seen in men and women above the age of 50 years. They have a 75-80% risk of dying of heart disease, a figure that is 2-4 times greater than that of the population without diabetes. "For the first time, we now have a study entirely carried out in this patient population that shows that by effectively treating the lipid abnormalities which often occur in these patients, we can significantly reduce the risk of the primary cause of death and disability. "There is a strong message from this study. Every person with type 2 diabetes should have their lipids measured when their diabetes is diagnosed and annually afterwards. Where their lipids are found to be abnormal, they should be treated with diet and optimum blood sugar control. If this is insufficient to normalise the lipids, a 'lipid lowering' drug should be added. Fenofibrate has been very effective in improving the reduced HDL and increased triglycerides that are typically seen in type 2 diabetes." The study also showed that fenofibrate, which has been widely used in non-diabetic patients, was as well tolerated and had as few side effects as did a placebo -- an inactive tablet. DAIS was funded by Laboratoires Fournier. SOURCE: The DAIS Study Investigators CONTACT: DAIS Project Office - Toronto: George Steiner (Project Director), +416-340-4538, or fax, +416-340-3473, or Anders Hamsten (Associate Project Director - Stockholm), +46-8-729-3222, or fax, +46-8-311-1298, or DAIS Clinic Directors: Montreal, Jacques Genest, Jr., +514-987-5715, or fax, +514-978-5767, or Laval, Andre Belanger, +450-688-4340, or fax, +450-688-4266, or Ottawa, Teik C. Ooi, +613-761-4420, or fax, +613-761-5316, or Toronto, Bernard Zinman, +416-586-8747, or fax, +416-586-4740, or Helsinki, Marja-Riitta Taskinen, +358-9-471-72240, or fax, +358-9-471-74694, or Oulu, Antero Kesaniemi, +358-8-315-4100, or fax, +358-8-315-5423, or Stockholm, Suad Efendic, +46-8-5177-4365, or fax, +46-8-5177-3096, or Halifax, Lawrence Title, +902-473-8470, or fax, +902-428-2271, or Vancouver, Tom Elliott, +604-875-5900, or fax, +604-875-5931, or Kuopio, Markku Laakso, +358-17-172151, or fax, +358-17-17-3993, or Bondy, Paul Valensi, +33-1-48-02-6596, or fax, +33-1-48-02-6579, or Core Lab Directors: Toronto, Peter McLaughlin (Core Angio Lab Director) +416-340-5986, or fax, +416-506-9373, or Peter Gladstone (Assoc Director - Core Angio Lab), +416-284-9727, or fax, +416-284-0141, or Michael Sole (Consultant - Core Angio), +416-340-3471, or fax, +416-340-4030, or Helsinki, Christian Ehnholm (Core Biochemistry Lab Director - Finland), +358-9-474-41-5200, or fax, +358-9-474-4408, or Vancouver, Jiri Frohlich (Core Biochemistry Lab Director - Canada), +604-806-8612, or fax, +604-806-8590, or Chapel Hill, Jim Hosking (Statistical Data & Processing Director), +919-962-3085, or fax, +919-962-3265, or Dawn Stewart (Research Assoc - Statistical Data Processing), +919-962-3029, or fax, +919-962-3265, or Safety and Data Monitoring Committee: Chairman - Prof M Gent (Hamilton, Canada), +905-527-2299, or fax, +905-575-2639, or Professor George Steiner, Project Director, DAIS, +416-340-4538, or fax, +416-340-3473, or [email protected]