There are more than 64 million people worldwide affected by heart failure, half of whom have mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction.
In a study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and elsewhere, scientists found that drugs originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes may benefit a wide range of patients with heart failure.
They showed that dapagliflozin, which had previously been shown to benefit patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, may also reduce heart disease death and hospitalization for patients with mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction—a population of millions of patients who have had limited therapeutic options.
In the largest and most inclusive trial of heart failure with mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction, the researchers found that treatment with the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin can benefit patients across the full spectrum of heart failure.
These findings establish SGLT2 inhibitors as foundational treatment for patients living with heart failure, regardless of ejection fraction, to help prevent hospitalization and morbidity and to extend meaningful survival and improve health-related quality of life.
These are the outcomes that matter most to patients and to clinicians—to keep patients feeling well and living longer.
Dapagliflozin is a sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor—a class of drugs that cause the body to excrete sugar in the urine.
In addition to controlling blood sugar in patients with diabetes, SGLT-2 inhibitors have been shown to provide significant cardiovascular and kidney disease benefits.
The authors note that the work has some limitations. They hope to rigorously and scientifically evaluate potential treatments so that they can provide the best evidence-based care to help them lead longer, healthier lives.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer, and this eating habit could help reduce risk of type 2 diabetes.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about how espresso coffee affects your cholesterol level, and results showing Vitamin C, but not vitamin E, linked to lower risk of heart failure.
The study was conducted by Scott Solomon et al and published in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet.
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