Gout drug shown to benefit diabetes patients at risk of heart disease

New research carried out at the University of Dundee has led to the possibility of using an old drug to help prevent the biggest cause of death in Type II diabetes patients. Allopurinol, a cheap drug used to prevent gout for more than 50 years, has been shown to reduce thickening of the heart muscle wall, known as Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH), in diabetes patients, according to a report in medicalxpress.com.  Reducing thickening is known to help reduce the risk of future cardiovascular events and, as heart disease and stroke account for 65 per cent of all fatalities in people