– Study focuses on cardiovascular disease risk implications in type 2 diabetes patients
– DECLARE included more than 17,000 patients across 882 sites in 33 countries
– Currently, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the Middle East is estimated at 9.7%. The region has the highest prevalence of diabetes in the world
– Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death among people with type 2 diabetes, accounting for 52% of deaths in type 2 diabetes worldwide
.Dubai UAE
Sallam Mohamed
AstraZeneca, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies announced recently results from the Phase III DECLARE cardiovascular outcomes trial. The study, which included more than 17,000 patients across 882 sites in 33 countries, focused CV outcomes in adults with type 2 diabetes
The DECLARE trial successfully met the primary safety endpoint of non-inferiority for major adverse cardiovascular events across this broad patient population
One of the earliest, most common, and most serious cardiovascular disorders in patients with diabetes is heart failure. Many sudden deaths in diabetes are related to underlying ventricular dysfunction rather than a new ischemic event
The National Agenda of UAE 2021 emphasizes the importance of preventive medicine and seeks to reduce lifestyle related diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases to ensure a longer and healthier life for citizens
Dr. Anamarija Gjurovic, Medical Director Gulf States, at AstraZeneca said: “Heart failure is a frequent complication of diabetes that occurs relatively early throughout the disease progression. These results make DECLARE a landmark trial in a patient population with type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk, where a significant unmet need remains amongst the estimated 425 million people living with diabetes globally.”
“AstraZeneca shares a commitment with health authorities in the region to support patients in fulfilling those needs and in achieving an optimal treatment strategy for better healthcare management,” added Dr. Gjurovic
Moreover, Dr. Abdul Razzak Al Madani, President of Emirates Diabetes Society also noted, “The DECLARE-TIMI 58 top line results offer compelling evidence that SGLT2 inhibitors help address an important medical need among a diverse group of patients with type-2 diabetes by reducing the composite of hospitalisation for heart failure or CV death. SGLT2 inhibitors can play a pivotal role in improving patient care as recent scientific studies have even showed positive cardiovascular effects . The results from this landmark trial are especially important since heart failure is an early and frequent complication of diabetes and associated with hospitalisations that result in a considerable societal and economic burden
The relationship between diabetes and CVD is complex; diabetes is a risk factor for CVD and conditions such as high blood pressure and obesity, that are more common in people with diabetes, are also risk factors for CV disease . Reducing cardiovascular risk is an essential component of diabetes management and so patients need to be better educated on how to modify cardiovascular risk factors in order to offer the best chance of improving CVD outcomes
Dr. Abdullah Shehab, President of Emirates Cardiac Society added, “DECLARE’s top line results have yet again strongly supported the CV benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors in a much broader type-2 diabetes population. Knowing that heart failure is one of the early cardiovascular complications for these patients, it also points to a shift towards an early treatment paradigm in a diabetic patient group that is highly relevant to our everyday cardiology practice.”
Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly. Patients need to look out for common symptoms that include increased thirst and frequent urination, increased hunger, weight loss, fatigue, blurred vision, slow-healing sores or frequent infections, as well as areas of darkened skin. Type 2 Diabetes has a major public health impact due to rapid economic growth, sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets which are all characteristic to the UAE
