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According to a recent study, a commonly prescribed diabetes drug also has a positive side effect on the heart and kidneys: canagliflozin not only lowers blood sugar. It also reduces the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular disease.
Doctors are already talking about a milestone in treating kidney patients.
Canagliflozin, along with standard therapy, clearly delays the progression of chronic kidney disease and makes dialysis less common in patients.
On video:
Renal patient washes the blood at home by dialysis
This is the conclusion of a study now published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Over a period of three years, a total of 4,401 patients worldwide who are diabetic type 2 and suffer from chronic kidney disease have been studied. They received the drug canagliflozin or a placebo.
Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
Study participants taking canagliflozine daily reduced the risk of fatal kidney disease by 34%. In addition, the risk of end-stage renal disease – with consequent dialysis – decreased by 32%. They were also less likely to have a fatal cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke.
This result represents a real advance
said Professor Jan C. Galle of the German Society for Nephrology (DGFN), the "health city of Berlin" health portal and therefore, above all, a patient on dialysis.
Also interesting:
The fact that more than a third of the drug was not dependent on dialysis in the study was "huge." Because: "The average life expectancy of patients on dialysis is less than that of a patient with colon cancer," said the professor of medicine.
The benefit to the heart and kidneys, therefore, is not limited to the special drug Canagliflozin, which was used in the study as a test drug. But for any class of inhibitors called SGLT2, which also includes canagliflozin applies. SGLT2 inhibitors reduce blood sugar levels.
Every second patient on dialysis is diabetic
The current study gives a "clear signal" that SGLT2 inhibitors lead to "a significantly lower loss of kidney function," said Christoph Wanner, a professor of medicine at Würzburg.
"Although diabetes is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease – about half of dialysis patients are diabetics," the health portal cites the kidney specialist, "but of course we hope we can help others with kidney disease as well."
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