Type 2 Diabetes - An oral medication that may protect against heart failure and lower blood sugar

Type 2 Diabetes - An oral medication that may protect against heart failure and lower blood sugar

Dapagliflozin (Farxiga) is an SGLT2 inhibitor given in pill form for people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It is used with diet and exercise and sometimes with other medications. It works by the kidneys secreting more sugar into the urine. According to a study reported in the journal in October 2018cardiovascular diabetes,The drug is also helpful in treating heart failure, a complication of type 2 diabetes.

Heart failure occurs on the left side of the heartis unable to absorb blood from the lungs and send it to the rest of the body quickly enough.

The heart is made up of muscle tissue that grows when it is stressed. The inward growth of this muscle results in a smaller space for the intake of blood from the lungs. This causes the heart to fail and the lungs to fill with blood from the blood.

In 2017, an estimated 26 million people worldwide had heart failure. In type 2 diabetes, high blood sugar levels damage the heart and blood vessels and can lead to high blood pressure. It is important to lower blood pressure to a healthy level to reduce strain on the heart. Heart attacks may not cause chest pain in people with type 2 diabetes because nerve damage reduces sensation. This makes it all the more important to prevent heart disease.

Investigators from Kobe University and several other research institutions in Japan studied 58 people with type 2 diabetes and heart failure. Dapagliflozin at a dose of 5 mg/day was added to her usual regimen. After six months, the size of the muscle tissue on the left side of the diabetic's heart decreased. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), a protein secreted by heart cells in response to excessive stretching, decreased in participants whose BNP was extremely high. Based on this information, researchers concluded that dapagliflozin may be helpful in improving heart failure in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The natriuretic peptide causes the kidneys to secrete potassium into the kidneys, reducing blood pressure and the amount of blood in the heart and blood vessels.

Dapagliflozin is administered once daily either with or without food. It is prescribed as part of an overall treatment plan that includes diet and exercise. Side effects are...

• yeast infections of the urinary tract,

• a stuffy nose with a sore throat,

• urinating frequently in large quantities and at night,

• dizziness or lightheadedness,

• ketoacidosis (check for ketones in urine),

• nausea and vomiting,

• feeling very tired,

• have difficulty breathing,

• stomach pain and

• Kidney injury.

Inspired by Beverleigh H Piepers