Diabetics, who take a fixed combination of two blood pressure lowering drugs, could cut their risk of death due to the disease by almost one-fifth, according to a study released in New Delhi on Monday.
The study says the drugs could potentially save millions of lives over the next decade if the treatment was implemented.
The study, which was presented today at the European Congress of Cardiology in Vienna and reported in the Journal Lancet, also said that the drugs also cut at the risk of heart and kidney diseases.
"These results represent an important step forward in healthcare for millions of people with diabetes worldwide," said Prof Stephen MacMahon, from the George Institute for International Health at the University of Sydney, which plans to soon launch an office in Hyderabad.
The trial, coordinated by the Institute, involved 11,140 patients from 20 countries, including India, who were already on medication for diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure.
"This treatment reduced the likelihood of dying from the complications of diabetes by almost one-fifth, with virtually no side-effects," he said.
The Institute's earlier study showed almost three quarters of India's population is set for an epidemic of diabetes.
Professor Nikhil Tandon of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, who played a key role in the investigations, said, "The study is the largest clinical trial ever performed in patients. This is important as India is estimated to have 30-35 million persons with diabetes," he said.
For the trial, half of the patients were given an extra tablet containing two blood pressure-lowering drugs (Perindopril and Indapamide), apart from their normal medications, while the rest took a placebo.
The additional drugs were found to lower blood pressure even more and reduced the risk of death from any cause by 14 per cent, and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 18 per cent, the study showed.
"In absolute terms, one death would be avoided for every 79 patients treated with the fixed combination of the two drugs for five years," the study said.
"The risk of coronary heart disease events was reduced by 14 per cent and the risk of new or worsening kidney disease was reduced by 21 per cent," it said.
The study conducted by an international group of researchers with support from Servier Laboratories, the manufacturers of the two drugs, and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
Tandon said "the study provide important information for India about the effects of blood pressure lowering in a broad cross-section of high-risk individuals with type two diabetes," he said.
Approximately 250 million people are living with diabetes across the world, most of whom will eventually be killed or disabled by the complications of their condition, it said.
Prof John Chalmers, the author of previous international guidelines for the treatment of high-blood pressure and chairman of the study management group, said," the results clearly demonstrate that we have the tools to blunt the impact of the global diabetes epidemic facing rich and poor countries alike."
