A new study by researchers from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and the Monash University has developed a treatment to prevent serious events such as a heart attack or death in diabetic patients at high risk of serious cardiovascular events.
The unfortunate link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease is known in the medical community and this latest study shows, for the first time, the potential of the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin, which is capable of stabilizing vulnerable coronary plaque in patients with diabetes to prevent plaque rupture and heart attack.
The results of the Research have been published in the scientific journal Journal of the American Heart Association.
Heart attack and diabetes: here’s what the new study says
This preclinical study, conducted by Dr. Yung-Chih Chen of the Baker Institute and by professor Karlheinz Peter and the teacher Karin Jandeleit-Dahm from the Monash University, provides further rationale for the use of dapagliflozin, the first of this new class of hypoglycemic drugs to be made available in Australia, by health specialists including primary care physicians, endocrinologists and cardiologists.
It is important to point out that the paper provides a proof of concept to test the coronary plaque stabilizing ability of this drug and other antidiabetic drugs.
Professor Peter, a cardiologist who specializes in treating heart attack patients, states that the effects on coronary plaque stability demonstrated in this study with dapagliflozin could explain, at least in part, the reduction in cardiovascular events observed in diabetic patients treated with this drug.
Professor Jandeleit-Dahm, a doctor who specializes in treating diabetic patients, says that Diabetes is known to accelerate atherosclerosis (the accumulation of fat in the artery) and increase coronary plaque instability, which can lead to plaque rupture and heart attackso much so that accelerated coronary heart disease in diabetic patients has become the leading cause of premature mortality and increased morbidity worldwide.
With a significant unmet need for diabetes-accelerated atherosclerosis and the identification of new therapeutic targets and strategies, this latest paper comes amid strong global interest in this new class of drugs.
While SGLT2 inhibitors have emerged as a new therapeutic class for lowering blood sugar, several clinical studies have demonstrated the efficacy of the hypoglycemic effect of SGLT2 inhibitors in association with improved cardiovascular outcomes.
“With some antidiabetic drugs increasingly added to the standard repertoire of cardiologists, this latest study provides further support for the potential of SGLT2 inhibitors to play a pivotal role in the prevention of plaque instability and cardiovascular events”, says Professor Peter.
More clinical trials are needed to test the efficacy of this drug with regards to plaque stability, professors Jandeleit-Dahm and Peter say the results are very promising and add weight to the cardiovascular benefits seen beyond glucose control.
Cardiovascular diseases are very common and serious. They are the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. If an individual is diagnosed with diabetes, they are twice as likely to have heart disease or a stroke than someone without diabetes, and at a young age. The longer you have diabetes, the more likely you are to develop heart disease.
Heart disease includes several types of problems that affect the heart. The term “cardiovascular disease”Includes all types of heart disease, stroke and blood vessel disease. The most common type is coronary heart disease, which affects the blood flow of the heart.
Coronary artery disease is caused by the buildup of plaque in the walls of the coronary arteries, the blood vessels that supply oxygen and blood to the heart. Plaque is made up of cholesterol deposits, which constrict the interior of the arteries and reduce blood flow. This process is called atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Decreased blood flow to the heart can cause a heart attack. Decreased blood flow to the brain can cause a stroke.
Over time, high blood sugar can damage the blood vessels and nerves that control the heart. People with diabetes are also more likely to have other conditions that increase their risk of heart disease:
Hypertension increases the force of blood through the arteries and can damage artery walls. Having both high blood pressure and diabetes can greatly increase the risk of heart disease;
Too much LDL (“bad”) cholesterol plaque can form in the blood on the walls of damaged arteries;
It is believed that i high triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood) and low HDL (“good”) cholesterol or high LDL cholesterol contribute to hardening of the arteries.
None of these conditions have symptoms. Your doctor can check your blood pressure and do a simple blood test to see if your LDL, HDL, and triglyceride levels are high.
People with diabetes are also more likely to have heart failure. Heart failure is a serious condition, but it doesn’t mean that the heart has stopped beating; it means that the heart cannot pump blood well.
This can lead to leg swelling and fluid buildup in the lungs, making breathing difficult. Heart failure tends to worsen over time, but early diagnosis and treatment can help relieve symptoms and stop or delay the condition from worsening.
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