Daily antibiotics 'could reduce diabetic stroke risk'
24/8/2010
Taking a common antibiotic each day may help diabetics reduce their risk of having a stroke.
This is according to research by scientists at the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine and Graduate Studies, published in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.
It was already known that diabetics have more strokes than people without the condition, and their stroke experiences are usually worse, states lead author Dr Adviye Ergul.
This is due to heightened levels of glucose-activating matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which break down certain cell membranes and facilitate the kind of brain bleeding responsible for a stroke.
However, the study finds that common antibiotics can reduce levels of MMPs in a diabetic's body, thus reducing the risk of stroke.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Florida recently claimed that people with diabetes often develop dementia in a different way to people who do not have the condition.