Health
Type 2 Diabetes Pill Cuts Risk of Death, Study Finds
This product image provided by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals shows bottles of Jardiance, a daily pill for Type 2 diabetes. (Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals via AP)
(CBS News) – The diabetes drug Jardiance sharply reduced chances of dying in diabetic patients at high risk of heart complications, a study shows, making the type 2 diabetes medication the first shown to lengthen diabetics’ lives.
The study found Jardiance reduced deaths from heart complications by 38 percent, deaths from any cause by 32 percent and hospitalizations due to chronic heart failure by 35 percent.
Heart complications prematurely kill many of the estimated 387 million diabetics worldwide, so doctors in recent years have moved from trying to reduce patients’ blood sugar to trying to prevent cardiovascular complications.
The results were particularly striking because nearly four-fifths of the participants were already taking standard medicines to control blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol, plus taking either Jardiance or a dummy pill.
