Ha J, Choi DW, Kim KY, et al. - Researchers used longitudinal nationwide data from the 2002–2017 Korean National Health Insurance Service DM (diabetes mellitus) cohort to assess the link between pioglitazone use and occurrence of first attack of ischemic stroke in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 DM. There were 128,171 patients who experienced newly onset type 2 DM and were stroke-free at the time of DM diagnosis. Of these, a total of 4796 cases of ischemic stroke were selected. Experts matched these cases to 23,980 controls based on age, gender, and the onset and duration of DM. A decreased risk of first attack of ischemic stroke was noted in relation to pioglitazone use vs non-use. A dose-dependent link of pioglitazone use with decreased rate of ischemic stroke development was found. Patients treated with pioglitazone for more than 2 years were found to have more pronounced risk reduction. Overall, experts inferred a likely preventive impact of pioglitazone use on primary ischemic stroke in type 2 DM cases, especially in those at high risk of stroke.