According to researchers, most diabetics with clogged arteries derive immense benefits from drug treatment and changes in lifestyle, effectively reducing their risk of death as immediate bypass surgery or angioplasty.

Further, researchers reporting at a meeting of the American Diabetes Association in New Orleans said, those diabetics in need of immediate surgery should opt for the more effective bypass surgery than angioplasty for reducing risk of heart attacks and strokes, though not deaths.

These study findings, in addition to those of a 2007 study of non-diabetics that found drug treatment and lifestyle changes to be as effective as angioplasty in preventing deaths, deals a major blow to stent manufacturing firms. Angioplasty, a process performed at least 1.24-million times each year, involves inserting stents into arteries in order to keep them open.

According to a new study, diabetes can be controlled as effectively by drugs that increase insulin levels in the body, as those that increase the body's sensitivity to insulin, with no significant side effects associated with either approach.

Good news, indeed, for GlaxoSmithKline's insulin-sensitizing drug Avandia, with Dr. Trevor Orchard from the University of Pittsburgh and who led the study saying: 'The insulin sensitization drugs are not harmful…and may be a little better, ' adding the patients who received them 'didn't gain as much weight, had less hypoglycaemia and it was easier for them to get control of their diabetes'.

However, experts say the study covers only a narrow range of patients, and revascularization or surgical reopening of arteries would be a far safer and more effective option than medical therapy, for those with severe blockage and strong symptoms.

With obesity on the rise in the United States and worldwide, diabetes especially Type 2 or adult-onset diabetes has reached near-epidemic levels. And, cardiovascular disease is just one of the most common side effects of diabetes, with about 65% of diabetics dying from heart disease or stroke.