This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Today I'm going to discuss the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Expert Consensus Decision Pathway[1] on novel therapies—the SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists—for cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. I joke that this is about cardiologists who finally want to be endocrinologists. In fact, I think they were jealous of us all along.
Cardiologists are concerned because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with diabetes. Indeed, 65% of deaths in patients with diabetes are due to cardiovascular disease. They have higher risks for coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke. Even though our diabetes drugs have not primarily been shown to reduce cardiovascular disease risk until recently, we have been able to show that lowering glucose levels reduces risk for microvascular complications such as nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy.
As I help patients achieve their glycemic targets, I never forget that I'm also reducing the risk for some of these complications that have a terrible impact on a patient's quality of life. As endocrinologists, we need to think about glucose, but now both cardiologists and endocrinologists can think about reducing cardiovascular disease risk in patients with known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
COMMENTARY
ACC Pathway Empowers Cardiologists to Use Diabetes Drugs for Heart Disease
Anne L. Peters, MD
DisclosuresJuly 24, 2019
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Today I'm going to discuss the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Expert Consensus Decision Pathway[1] on novel therapies—the SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists—for cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. I joke that this is about cardiologists who finally want to be endocrinologists. In fact, I think they were jealous of us all along.
Cardiologists are concerned because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in patients with diabetes. Indeed, 65% of deaths in patients with diabetes are due to cardiovascular disease. They have higher risks for coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke. Even though our diabetes drugs have not primarily been shown to reduce cardiovascular disease risk until recently, we have been able to show that lowering glucose levels reduces risk for microvascular complications such as nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy.
As I help patients achieve their glycemic targets, I never forget that I'm also reducing the risk for some of these complications that have a terrible impact on a patient's quality of life. As endocrinologists, we need to think about glucose, but now both cardiologists and endocrinologists can think about reducing cardiovascular disease risk in patients with known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Medscape Diabetes © 2019 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Anne L. Peters. ACC Pathway Empowers Cardiologists to Use Diabetes Drugs for Heart Disease - Medscape - Jul 24, 2019.
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Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author(s)
Anne L. Peters, MD
Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine, Keck School of Medicine; Director, University of Southern California Westside Center for Diabetes, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Disclosure: Anne L. Peters, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Serve(d) on the advisory board for: Abbott Diabetes Care; Becton Dickinson; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Livongo; Medscape; Merck & Co., Inc.; Novo Nordisk; Omada Health; OptumHealth; sanofi; Zafgen
Received research support from: Dexcom; MannKind Corporation; Astra Zeneca
Serve(d) as a member of a speakers bureau for: Novo Nordisk