Diabetes Drugs Effective in Reducing Heart, Kidney Disease

SGLT2 inhibitors commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes help reduce hospitalization for heart failure patients, revealed new research.

Two types of diabetes drugs namely SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 drugs were effective in reducing heart complications including stroke, heart attack, and death from cardiovascular disease, stated research accepted for presentation at ENDO 2020, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, and publication in a special supplemental section of the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

One class of drugs, known as SGLT2 inhibitors, has a clear benefit over the other class, known as GLP-1 drugs, in reducing hospitalization for heart failure, the study found. "This helps doctors more easily choose a medicine to best treat diabetes," said lead study author Ali Al-Khazaali, M.D., of Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Mo.

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‘SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 drugs commonly used to treat diabetes benefit patients with heart and kidney disease.’

SGLT2 inhibitors are prescription oral medications used to treat type 2 diabetes. They include canagliflozin (Invokana), dapagliflozin (Farxiga) and empagliflozin (Jardiance). The study compared these drugs with injected diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. These include albiglutide (Tanzeum), dulaglutide (Trulicity), exenatide (Byetta), liraglutide (Victoza) and semaglutide (Ozempic).

In prior studies, it was found that these two classes of drugs showed heart and kidney benefits besides controlling the blood sugar.

The researchers analyzed data from six previous trials of GLP-1 (including a total of 51,762 subjects) and four trials of SLGT2 inhibitors (including 33,457 subjects). Both drug classes were equally effective in reducing combined major adverse cardiac events such as heart attack, stroke and death from cardiovascular disease, compared to people with diabetes who were not taking the drugs.

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The rate of hospitalization for heart failure was 32% less in patients taking SLT2 inhibitors compared to patients not taking the drugs, especially in those with more severe cardiovascular disease risk.

In contrast, people taking GLP-1 drugs did not have a reduced rate of hospitalization for heart failure compared with people who had diabetes but were not taking the drugs. Both classes of drugs demonstrated kidney benefit; neither class was superior.

Quiz on Kidney
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist, and are located just below the rib cage, one on each side of your spine.

Healthy kidneys filter about half a cup of blood every minute, removing wastes and extra water to make urine. The urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through two thin tubes of muscle called ureters, one on each side of your bladder. The bladder stores urine. The kidneys, ureters, and bladder are partof the urinary tract.

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kidneys remove wastes and extra fluid from your body. Kidneys also remove acid that is produced by the cells of your body and maintain a healthy balance of water, salts, and minerals-such as sodium, calcium, phosphorus and potassium-in your blood ().

Without this balance, nerves, muscles, and other tissues in the body may not work normally.

Kidneys also make hormones that help

Control your blood pressure
Make red blood cells
Keep your bones strong and healthy

The most common serious side effects for SGLT2 inhibitors included yeast infections in women and diabetic ketoacidosis, a rare life-threatening problem that can affect people with diabetes. The major serious side effect for GLP-1 drugs was stomach upset.

"Doctors need to balance this side effect against the possible weight-loss benefits of this medicine," Al-Khazaali said.

Source-Eurekalert