New Class of Drugs SGLT2 Proving Effective in Treating Diabetes, Heart and Kidney Failure
They not only cure diabetes but are effective in treating heart and kidney failure. These are inhibitors SGLT2: a new class of drugs created for the treatment of diabetes, which over time also proved useful for other pathologies. They are “friends” of the heart and kidneys. Innovative therapies that were explained today, Saturday 4 May, during the conference organized by Federation of associations of hospital internal managers (FADOI). A meeting, called “SGLT2 and cardiovascular protection” held in Palazzo Leone da Perego in Legnano which attracted around fifty doctors including specialists and general practitioners.
Prof. Antonino Mazzone, director of the Department of Medical Area and Care Continuity of the ASST West Milanese, introduced the work in a timely manner. The expert from Legnano explained that the objectives of the meeting were to provide updated information on the guidelines for the management of type 2 diabetes and at the same time explain how the integration of SGLT2 inhibitors is able to improve outcomes in patients with cardiovascular and renal diseases. “These are drugs that will change history – says Mazzone -. I remember that the first cause of hospitalization in medicine is heart failure, and it is precisely in this area that these inhibitors can be used.” In summary, these drugs reduce blood sugar, facilitating the loss of glucose and sodium through urine. “It is something new that has appeared after thirty years of treating renal failure, which is in fact very widespread in the world. Let’s also take into account that one in two patients in the ASST is diabetic.”
Among the speakers were doctors Ilaria Dalle Mule, Roberto De Giglio, Luca Francesco Di Toma, Ilaria Formenti, Chiara Marchesi, Laura Eugenia Rabbi, Ilario Stefani, Roberto Turato, and Cornelio Turri. In summary, clinical studies on the cardiovascular safety of drugs for type 2 diabetes have led to a significant change in the treatment of hyperglycemia. SGLT2 inhibitors have demonstrated not only safety but also efficacy in preventing cardio-renal complications in diabetic patients with previous cardiovascular disease or multiple risk factors.
From this perspective, patient management always becomes integrated between specialists and beyond. And it is precisely in this context that, as specified by Doctor Stefani, close collaboration between specialists and general practitioners is important. “The sharing of information and coordination between the various figures involved is crucial to optimize therapeutic results and rationally use the available resources. Correct cardiovascular prevention and therapy management in patients with complex comorbidities is essential to quickly outline a diagnostic path, promptly initiate optimal pharmacological therapies, and efficiently manage follow-up.”
SGLT2 inhibitors (or gliflozines) include three molecules empagliflozin, canagliflozin, and dapagliflozin. They are drugs approved in Italy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in once-daily administration, with a superior safety profile compared to other oral hypoglycemics.