In 250,000 adults, the newer diabetes-prevention medicines outperformed the old standard

Metformin has been the standard first medicine for prediabetes for decades. A large new analysis presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2026 asked how the newer GLP-1 medicines compare. Reviewing health records of 256,492 adults with prediabetes and obesity (average age 52), researchers found those taking GLP-1 medicines were about 1.5 times as likely to bring their blood sugar back to normal, and had lower risks of progressing to type 2 diabetes, of heart attack, stroke and heart failure, and of death over five years. The study is observational — it cannot prove cause and effect — and the findings are preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. But at this scale, the signal is hard to ignore: prevention may be getting stronger.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation