Empagliflozin is a type 2 diabetes drug that has lately gained acceptance as a treatment option for patients with persistent heart failure. The “Efficacy and Safety of Empagliflozin in Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients: Main Results from the EMPULSE Trial” sought to see if this SGLT2 inhibitor could help adults who had been admitted to the hospital with acute heart failure once their condition had stabilized.
Adults With AHF Benefit From Empagliflozin, A Type 2 Diabetes Drug
As per experts, it is important to find out the diabetes type before initiating the treatment. This disease has two types known as type one and type two. Type one is related to the poor lifestyle and diet, while type two is related to genes, and hence one cannot improve his situation on his own. There are several types of research conducted by a group of experts to help the patients who suffer from type two, and that is also with the help of medicine only.
According to late-breaking research presented today at the American Heart Association‘s Scientific Sessions, 2021 adults treated with empagliflozin during hospitalization for acute heart failure experienced clinical benefits such as increased survival, lower risk of heart failure hospital readmission, and an overall improvement in their quality of life.
“This is the first time we have seen this type of medication work so effectively and safely in patients who were hospitalized for acute heart failure regardless of heart failure history or diabetes status,” says the study’s lead author AdriaanVoors M.D. Ph.D. “These results may lead to earlier and more frequent treatment with empagliflozin, which may improve the lives of more people with heart failure.”
Using the number of fatalities heart failure-related events (hospitalization urgent or unscheduled visits owing to heart failure), the duration to the first heart failure event, or an improved score of at least five points on the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, researchers classified changes in the participants’ clinical outcomes. The questionnaire employs a scale of zero to 100, with zero indicating everyday symptoms and 100 indicating no symptoms in the previous two weeks.
In the double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 530 persons with an average age of 68 were included, with 66 percent of men. Participants had been admitted to the hospital with acute heart failure, but their symptoms had to be stable before they could join the trial.
The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: one received a 90-day supply of 10 mg empagliflozin tablets, and the other received a 90-day supply of placebo pills. They were told to take one tablet per day for the next 90 days.
According to the findings of the study:
- Adults who got empagliflozin were 36 percent more likely than those who received a placebo to achieve a clinical benefit such as lower all-cause mortality, fewer heart failure episodes, and improved heart failure symptoms.
- Compared to those receiving a placebo, there was a lower rate of all-cause mortality, fewer heart failure episodes, and a higher improvement in heart failure symptoms.
- Regardless of the kind of heart failure or whether or not they had type 2 diabetes, participants experienced reductions in all-cause mortality heart failure episodes or heart failure symptoms.
- Those who took empagliflozin had fewer major heart failure episodes than those who took a placebo.
“Even though there are several medicines available to improve clinical outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure, very few medicines have proven to benefit patients with new acute onset of heart failure needing hospitalization,” said Voors. “Our findings indicate that empagliflozin may help to improve outcomes for these patients without an increase in serious adverse events effects.”
