Drug Protects Kidneys, Heart in Diabetic Patients

This Jan. 3, 2009, file photo shows a person with diabetes testing his blood sugar level in Kamen, Germany. (AP)
This Jan. 3, 2009, file photo shows a person with diabetes testing his blood sugar level in Kamen, Germany. (AP)
TT

Drug Protects Kidneys, Heart in Diabetic Patients

This Jan. 3, 2009, file photo shows a person with diabetes testing his blood sugar level in Kamen, Germany. (AP)
This Jan. 3, 2009, file photo shows a person with diabetes testing his blood sugar level in Kamen, Germany. (AP)

A recent Canadian study has found that a drug prescribed to treat heart failure could protect kidney and heart health in individuals with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Results from the study were presented on November 4, at ASN Kidney Week 2023 organized by the American Society of Nephrology, in Philadelphia.

The study of a drug named “Sotagliflozin”, which has been approved by the FDA in May as a heart failure treatment, also involved non-diabetic patients.

Sotagliflozin is a Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, which lowers blood sugar by inhibiting glucose absorption in the kidneys, and can also be used to treat type 2 diabetes.

Researchers have found that these drugs provide kidney- and heart-related benefits to patients with and without diabetes.

During the study, the research team observed 10,584 patients with type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular factors to receive sotagliflozin or placebo.

Over a median follow-up of 16 months, the researchers found sotagliflozin reduced the risk of glomerular filtration by 50 percent, and dialysis or kidney transplant by 38 percent.

They also found that compared to placebo, sotagliflozin reduced the risk of heart and kidney problems, as well as cardiovascular diseases-related deaths by 23 percent.

“These effects add to the already reported benefits of sotagliflozin in reducing both heart failure and ischemic events such as myocardial infarction or stroke,” said corresponding author David Cherney of the University of Toronto.

“Sotagliflozin is now FDA approved to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and heart failure events with a broad label that includes patients with heart failure or chronic kidney disease, so the drug is now an option for nephrologists and cardiologists, as well as primary care physicians, to prescribe,” he told the York Alert website.



Pakistan's Punjab Province Shuts Schools in Smog-hit Main Cities

Commuters ride along a highway engulfed in smog, on the outskirts of Lahore - AFP
Commuters ride along a highway engulfed in smog, on the outskirts of Lahore - AFP
TT

Pakistan's Punjab Province Shuts Schools in Smog-hit Main Cities

Commuters ride along a highway engulfed in smog, on the outskirts of Lahore - AFP
Commuters ride along a highway engulfed in smog, on the outskirts of Lahore - AFP

Pakistan's most populated province of Punjab on Wednesday ordered schools closed in smog-hit main cities, shifting them to online learning until November 17, as the country battles record air pollution.

The province, home to more than half of Pakistan's 240 million people, had earlier closed primary schools, curbed tuk-tuks and shuttered some barbeque restaurants in megacity Lahore.

On Wednesday, it ordered all schools to be shut in several major cities enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling, AFP reported.

"Looking at the predicted air wind and air quality index we are closing all higher secondary schools," said Marriyum Aurangzeb, a senior minister in Punjab during a press conference in Lahore.

The decision will affect millions of children in some of Pakistan's largest cities, including Punjab's provincial capital Lahore.

The minister said on Wednesday the air quality index (AQI), which measures a range of pollutants, spiked above 1,000 -- well above the level of 300 considered 'dangerous' - according to data from IQAir.

"This morning's AQI crossed 1,100," Aurangzeb said.

"I appeal to citizens, that for god's sake don't come out of your houses," she said adding that wearing a face mask was made mandatory in affected cities.

She also announced that half of the staff in public and private offices will work remotely.

"It's like a slow horror movie, constantly creeping up behind you," said Ayishm Ahmed Khan Burki, a 22-year-old student who transferred her courses from Lahore to capital Islamabad after suffering from allergies and asthma.

"Everyone has a right to clean air," she told AFP.

- Lahore admits 900 patients -

Seasonal crop burn-off by farmers on the outskirts of Lahore also contributes to toxic air the WHO says can cause strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.

The minister said in Lahore alone, more than 900 patients including children and the elderly were admitted in hospitals on Tuesday.

"Colds and fevers have become so widespread that everyone is heading to the hospitals," Muhammad Yousaf, a 50-year-old banker told AFP in Lahore.

"There are long queues at the hospitals' receptions, and patients are facing extended waiting times for their turn".

Other affected cities include Faisalabad, Pakistan's third-largest, as well as Multan and Gujranwala.

The decision follows last month's announcement by the provincial environmental protection agency of new restrictions in four "hot spots" in Lahore. Tuk-tuks with polluting two-stroke engines were banned, along with restaurants that operate barbecues without filters.

Pollution in excess of levels deemed safe by the WHO shortens the life expectancy of Lahore residents by an average of 7.5 years, according to the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute.

According to UNICEF, nearly 600 million children in South Asia are exposed to high levels of air pollution and half of childhood pneumonia deaths are associated with air pollution.