Type 2 Diabetes Drug Class Reducing Heart Failure

According to a study at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, a group of medications that lowers blood sugar in diabetic patients is also helping to protect them against heart failure as well.

Henry Ford researcher and cardiologist David Lanfear, M.D., lead author of the study said, “People with diabetes are at risk for developing heart failure. Diabetic adults die of heart disease two to four times more than those without diabetes.

“Our study data suggest that diabetic patients taking a particular class of medications are less likely to develop heart failure,” adds Dr. Lanfear.

This study involved 4,427 diabetic patients who were all taking blood-sugar lowering medications at the Henry Ford Hospital between January 1, 2000 and July 1, 2012. Of these 4,427 patients, 1,488 were taking GLP-1 medications and 2,939 were not.

Throughout 663 days, there were 281 hospitalizations (184 of them were due to heart failure and 158 died).

The results were attuned for different factors like race, age, gender, heart failure, duration of diabetes, coronary disease and the number of anti-diabetic medications.  Hospital stays and deaths were also looked into. The use of GLP-1 medications were associated with a reduced risk of hospitalizations for heart failure and fewer deaths.

Dr. Lanfear said, “These preliminary results look very promising,” “However this was a retrospective study and this subject needs further investigation.”

According to the American Diabetes Association, in the United States, there are more than 25 million adults and children who have diabetes. The ADA also estimates that another 80 million may be pre-diabetic and that two million new cases were diagnosed in 2010. Diabetes contributed to 232,404 deaths in 2007.