People with Type 2 diabetes who are treated with a certain inhibitor are half as likely be hospitalized or die from heart failure compared to other medicines, according to a study conducted by AstraZeneca.
The company's CVD-REAL study examined the hospitalization risk for heart failure and death from any cause in Type 2 diabetes patients who are being treated with SGLT-2 inhibitors, a more recent class of diabetes medications, according to an AstraZeneca news release.
The study spanned six countries and showed that in 300,000 patients with Type 2 diabetes, treatment with SGLT-2 inhibitors cut the all-cause mortality rate by 51 percent and the risk of hospitalization due to heart failure by 39 percent, AstraZeneca said. Notably, 87 percent of the patients had no history of heart disease.
“Diabetes is a growing epidemic worldwide, which is associated with significant comorbidities that contribute to an increased risk of costly hospitalizations and even death,” Dr. Bruce Cooper, vice president and head of global medical affairs at AstraZeneca, said in the release.
“Real-world data from this study provide striking evidence that the newer SGLT-2i class of medicines cuts the rate of hospitalizations for heart failure and death by approximately half,” Cooper said. “CVD-REAL is the first study to observe these effects of SGLT-2i treatment in a much broader and lower risk group of type-2 diabetes patients than previously evaluated in clinical trials.”
About 415 million adults in the world have diabetes and by 2040, that number could reach as high as 640 million, according to the release. Those with Type 2 diabetes are two to three times more likely to experience heart failure and have a greater chance of heart attack or stroke, with about half of the Type 2 diabetes patients’ deaths resulting from heart disease, the company said.
