Patients with type 2 diabetes who have already suffered a first stroke have 47 percent less risk of having a second one if they take Actos, according to British researchers.

Dr Robert Wilcox of University Hospital, Nottingham, England, said adding Actos to standard care reduced the incidence of a second stroke for diabetics by nearly half to 5.6 percent from 10.2 percent.

The new research, reported at the World Congress of Cardiology, comes from analysis of a large clinical study called PROactive. Researchers reporting a year ago on the PROactive study said Actos reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes and death by 16 percent in all high-risk people with diabetes.

The latest finding, presented at the World Congress of Cardiology, is another indication that Actos, which works by making the body's cells more sensitive to insulin, provides benefits beyond lowering blood sugar levels.

Dr Robert Spanheimer, Takeda's medical director for diabetes, said he believed doctors would be impressed by new data demonstrating such a large reduction in the risk of second stroke.