Pioglitazone, long known to increase insulin sensitivity, has been “mostly relegated to use in unusual conditions such as lipodystrophies” after its drug class, the thiazolidinediones, “fell from grace” in the words of our guest.

Dr. Clay Semenkovich has just written an editorial comment on a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. That study showed a benefit from pioglitazone use in the secondary prevention of vascular events among patients with insulin resistance (but not diabetes) who’d had a recent ischemic stroke or TIA.

He discusses the implications of those findings and, given the drug’s side effects, cautions against a rush to prescribing pioglitazone without first discussing the trade-offs with patients.

NEJM editorial (free)

NEJM study (free)

Physician’s First Watch coverage (free)