- Approximately 12.2 million people are newly diagnosed with stroke each year.
- One in four stroke survivors will experience another stroke.
- Stroke survivors are at increased risk of developing serious heart problems, such as heart attacks.
- Type 2 diabetes drugs GLP-1 agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors reduce stroke survivors' subsequent stroke, heart attack, or death compared to patients who did not take these drugs, according to a new study. It may help reduce the risk of
According to World Stroke Associationone in four adults over the age of 25 will suffer a stroke in their lifetime, and approximately 12.2 million new strokes are diagnosed each year.
According to previous research, 1 in 4 stroke survivors People who have had a stroke will experience another stroke. high risk The rate at which people develop serious heart problems, such as a heart attack, clinically known as a myocardial infarction, in the first month after a stroke.
For this study, researchers looked at patients who suffered an ischemic stroke (the most common type of stroke caused by a blood clot in an artery that carries blood to the brain) between January 2000 and June 2022. Medical data from more than 7,000 adults was analyzed.
Researchers investigated whether study participants were prescribed either a GLP-1 agonist or an SGLT2 inhibitor after their first stroke.
“GLP-1 receptor agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors are two types of drugs commonly used to help control blood sugar in diabetic patients.” Dr. M. Ali Shefe“The study's lead author, an internal medicine resident at Henry Ford Medical Center in Warren, Michigan, and a researcher in the cardiovascular division of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, explained: Today's medical news.
“They also have the following benefits:” heart and kidney healthThis has led to its use in patients with certain heart conditions or at risk for cardiovascular disease,” Scheffe continued.
“These drug classes have been studied in randomized clinical trials over the past several years and have been shown to have favorable cardiovascular disease outcomes in patients with obesity, diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease.” he added.
After an average of three years of follow-up, Scheffe and his team found that stroke survivor participants who took GLP-1 or SGLT2 drugs had a 74% lower risk of death than those who did not. , found that the risk of having a heart attack was 84% lower. are taking these medications.
Participants taking either drug also had a lower risk of experiencing a secondary stroke compared to those not taking it.
” Current guidelines “Stroke Prevention recommends the use of blood thinners, blood pressure management, and cholesterol-lowering drugs, along with lifestyle modifications, to reduce the risk of a second stroke,” Sheff said.
“If our findings are externally validated, it could lead to changes in practice and we may start prescribing these drugs to stroke patients to prevent future events,” he noted.
After reviewing this research, Dr. Sandra Narayanan“It's important to note that we're not involved in the study,” said Dr. M., a board-certified vascular neurologist and neurointerventional surgeon at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., who was not involved in the study. MNT She was surprised by the strong positive response that both drugs showed in reducing the likelihood of achieving the combined endpoint of death, heart attack, and recurrent ischemic stroke.
“Two major barriers that stroke and myocardial infarction patients struggle with are compliance and education,” she continued.
Furthermore, “survey-type studies of prescribing practices may be useful in assessing knowledge among prescribers, such as internists, family physicians, endocrinologists, and stroke neurologists, before and after the dissemination of disease-specific research.'' “There is,” Narayanan said.
MNT I also talked to Dr. Mir Alia general surgeon, bariatric surgeon, and board-certified physician who is the medical director of the Memorial Care Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, spoke about the study.
“I thought this was an interesting study that shows another benefit of these drugs. So it's always good to see drugs that work,” Ali said.
Ali said it is difficult to determine at this point what positive impact GLP-1 and SGLT2 drugs have on the heart, since this study showed the potential benefits of these drugs.
“It will be interesting to see how this is helping patients. Is it an independent effect of the drug itself, or is it a secondary effect on weight loss, or is there an effect on blood sugar control?” ” he added. “It would be helpful to have research aimed at uncovering these details.”