Drug that lowers blood sugar to combat type 2 diabetes ‘also helps fight obesity and heart disease’
Canagliflozin, aka Invokana, hailed as revolutionary in treatment of disease affecting millions of Brits
A DRUG used to treat diabetes has been hailed a game changer after experts found it not only slashes blood sugar levels but can also protect against heart and kidney disease.
The drug, taken once a day, lowers blood pressure and combats obesity, one of the main causes of type 2 diabetes, a new study shows.
Canagliflozin, sold under trade name Invokana, reduces the overall risk of heart disease by 14 per cent and slashed the risk of hospitalisation for heart failure by 33 per cent.
And researchers from The George Institute for Global Health, found it also had a “significant impact” on the progression of kidney disease.
Professor Bruce Neal described the findings as “exciting”, adding they offer real hope to people with type 2 diabetes.
He said: “Coronary heart disease is the biggest killer by far for people with type 2 diabetes.
“Our findings suggest that not only does canagliflozin significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, it also has many other benefits too.
“We found it also reduced blood pressure and led to weight loss.
“Type 2 diabetes is growing rapidly all over the world and we need drugs that not only deal with glucose levels, but that also protect the many millions of people from the very real risks of stroke and heart attack.”
Invokana is known as a SGLT2 inhibitor and is a relatively new drug, that works to block the body’s reabsorption of sugar or glucose.
It is already available to patients in the UK, prescribed by doctors to help manage type 2 diabetes.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) stated in 2014 canagliflozin is recommended for use alongside other diabetes medication including metformin and insulin.
There are more than four million people in the UK living with diabetes, 90 per cent of whom have type 2.
The new findings were presented at the American Diabetes Association Conference in San Diego.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TYPE 1 AND TYPE 2 DIABETES?
All types of diabetes cause blood glucose levels to be higher than normal, but the two different types do this in different ways.
The distinction lies in what is causing the lack of insulin – often described as the key, that allows glucose to unlock the door to the cells.
With type 1 diabetes, a person’s pancreas produces no insulin, but in type 2 cells in the body become resistant to insulin, so a greater amount of insulin is needed to keep blood glucose levels within a normal range.
Type 2 diabetes linked to obesity
Type 2 diabetes is the more common form of the disease – accounting for between 85 and 95 per cent of all cases, according to .
Typically, people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes from the age of 40.
Experts suggest the rising rates of type 2 diabetes is due to the obesity epidemic – a key cause of type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes can be treated with drugs, and many people can reverse their condition by adopting a healthy lifestyle – a healthy diet and exercise.
Type 1 diabetes is less common
Type 1 diabetes is far less common, affecting around 10 per cent of adults with the disease.
It is treated with daily insulin injections or an insulin pump.
This form of the disease typically occurs in childhood, or before the age of 40 and is not linked to obesity.