Healthcare experts from Care and KIMS Hospitals in Hyderabad have started clinical trials with an experimental drug which has the potential to prevent both diabetes and cardiovascular disease in patients.

A team of doctors, in their recent clinical study, used Empagliflozin to treat type 2 diabetes patients having cardiovascular disease. Interestingly in their study, it was discovered that Empagliflozin reduced the risk of cardiovascular death by 38 per cent in both the patients.

Dr. Bipin Sethi, an endocrinologist affiliated to CARE Hospitals, and Dr. Dayasagar Rao, a senior consultant cardiologist affiliated to Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, who did clinical studies on two patients, said that use of Empagliflozin is one of the advanced and novel therapeutic options emerging in the recent times. “India is home for 6th of global diabetes population and type 2 diabetes is the one of the most prevalent in India. Diabetes leads to many other diseases and cardiovascular disease is in the forefront among them. Though there are many ways and means to control diabetes, recent studies have discovered that Empagliflozin therapy is most effective for diabetes patients suffering from cardiovascular disease,” said Dr Sethi.

Empagliflozin is the first US FDA approved medication for reduction in risk of cardiovascular death, in adults with type 2 diabetes. The drug was tested on 7000 patients across 42 countries.

According to healthcare experts, patients suffering from diabetes, having poor control of blood sugar results in a long-standing progressive damage to the blood vessels, which manifests as major cardiovascular diseases like chest-pain, heart-attack, heart-failure, or paralysis. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Highlighting the increasing trend of cardiovascular diseases in people with type 2 diabetes, Dr. Bipin Sethi said, “The recent approval of the US FDA, for the use of an anti-diabetic medicine Empagliflozin, for reducing the risk of cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, is a landmark progress in this dimension. For the first time, physicians can prescribe a blood-sugar lowering medication, which has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

Explaining the reason for higher incidence of cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes, Dr. V Dayasagar Rao said, “High blood pressure and cholesterol in patients of diabetes, increases their risk of cardiovascular diseases. This new treatment option approved by the US FDA is a proven choice of treatment for diabetes management and reduction of cardiovascular disease.”

The American Diabetes Association recommends that in patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, Empagliflozin or Liraglutide should be considered as therapeutic options for reducing cardiovascular and overall mortality.