According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, asserts a new diabetes drug can reduce the chances of coronary diseases in diabetic patients.

The research demonstrated that participants who took empagliflozin, marketed in the name Jardiance, have 38 percent less chances to experience cardiovascular disease or stroke than participants who took placebo medication.

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Researchers also found that participants who took Jardiance were 35 percent less likely to undergo hospitalization due to cardiovascular diseases as compared to participants who took placebo.

Physicians were amazed by the results of this clinical trial. Prior to this, four studies concerning other diabetes medications showed efficacy in improving patient's metabolic function; however, none of those were effective in improving patient's cardiovascular health.

Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Steven Nissen reports Los Angeles Times, "This is the first time ever that a diabetes drug has shown evidence of cardiovascular benefit. Obviously, this is an important finding."

Jardiance is one of the 40 FDA-approved anti-diabetic medications; however, its high cost, almost $800 per year, raises a big question on its cost effectiveness.

The clinical study, named EMPA-REG outcome trial, was sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co. The findings of the study were presented to the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm, Sweden on Thursday, Sept. 17.

According to Dispatch Tribunal, Dr. Silvio E. Inzucchi, a Yale Medical School endocrinologist who is among the paper's authors, said "The participants in the EMPA-REG outcome trial were at unusually high risk of early cardiovascular death, so it's hard to draw clear comparisons with other drugs. But the "number-to-treat" figure puts the drug's effectiveness in preventing cardiovascular death close to that of lipid-lowering statin medications, introduced in the 1980s, and possibly ahead of ACE inhibitors, a widely used class of hypertension medications."

Nissen shared that the findings of the study were stunning. Participants who were taking Jardiance showed better result when death from strokes, heart attacks, and heart failure were combined, compared to participants who were on placebo.

In all, 194 of 2,333 participants (8.3 percent) taking the placebo died of cause apart from coronary diseases during the course of the study, compared with 269 of the 4,687 participants (5.7 percent) taking Jardiance. The death rates only due to cardiovascular diseases were 5.9 percent for the placebo participants, compared to 3.7 percent for the Jardiance participants.

Nissen suggested, "In the hierarchy of outcomes, death trumps everything else. When you have an effect on death, you have to pay attention."

TagsDiabetes Medicine, Diabetes And Heart Disease, Anti-Diabetic Medicine in Cardiovascular Disease, New Diabetes Drug, Coronary Diseases in Diabetic Patients