Surgery Better for Some Patients

For diabetes patients with severe heart disease, bypass surgery is more effective than medication.

Recent finding: Only 22.4% of diabetes patients with severe coronary disease who had immediate bypass surgery died or had a heart attack or stroke within the next five years, versus 30.5% who elected to take medication instead.

Study of 2,368 people by researchers at University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, presented at a recent meeting of the American Diabetes Association.