United States: A global study, spearheaded by one of Indian origin, has shown that the medication given to patients suffering from renal ailments could be taken without harm by patients admitted for acute myocardial infarction – heart attack.
More about the news
The team that worked at Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital was able to prove that empagliflozin is effective in reducing heart failure incidences in patients who have suffered a heart attack without concerning the state of renal function.
As for acute heart attack patients, they are more susceptible to developing acute renal injury because of the increased duration of exposure to stressors, including diuretics or contrast agents during cardiac catheterization.
Such risk is the reason why doctors do not initiate empagliflozin after a heart attack, as little evidence is available regarding this class of drug’s safety for such a context, mid-day.com reported.
The drug can inhibit sodium-glucose cotransporter, two proteins that help the kidneys filter glucose from the blood.
What more are the experts stating?
Deepak L. Bhatt, Director of the Hospital, noted that the study will go a long way in filling what has been deemed as a massive gap in the understanding of the clinical use of Empagliflozin after a heart attack.
The trial enrolled 6,522 patients with acute heart attack and established an increased risk of heart failure to empagliflozin or placebo.
Empagliflozin lowered heart failure hospitalization and adverse events, lowering the risk across the spectrum of baseline kidney dysfunction.
Serious or suspected adverse event rates were also comparable between the two groups within 30 days of drug intake independent of baseline kidney function, systolic blood pressure (SBP), or other associated medical therapies, mid-day.com reported.
As per the global report of diseases that have caused death, cardiovascular diseases lead the list, and heart attack is one of the reasons.
The team pointed out that in the context of the global cardiovascular disease burden, the study has a profound bearing on managing a high-risk group of patients by providing physicians with data on the early use of empagliflozin safety and efficacy after a heart attack.