A study has revealed that the commonly used injectable drug that doctors often prescribe for treating Type 2 diabetes, may not bring about any improvement in patients who face a major risk of heart failure.
A research study findings have revealed that Type 2 Diabetes injectable drug “liraglutide” 
often given to people with diabetes has been stated to be ineffective in improving heart conditions of patients, who suffer from advanced heart failure.
When the heart is unable to pump the amount of blood that is needed by different organs in the body to function to the optimum, the patients are categorized under the heart failure category. This is a chronic condition of the body that has to be constantly monitored.
It has been noted that nearly one third of the people who have heart failure also suffer from diabetes. It is imperative that the medicines used for diabetes are safe for people falling in the high-risk heart failure category. The medicines that are commonly used to taper down the blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes are not healthy for the heart and increase the chances of heart failure.
Researchers found out that after liraglutide, a diabetes drug was administered, there was a control in the blood sugar levels, but the pumping action of heart or its clinical stability could not be established or improved in patients, who were advanced heart failure cases.
According to the results of the study, liraglutide promoted weight loss in patients with diabetes, controlled their blood sugar levels but did not make any significant impact on their heart failure condition.
According to Kenneth B. Margulies, lead researcher of study and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, “Abnormalities in the way the heart generates energy from fats and glucose, including resistance to the normal actions of insulin, have been shown to contribute to a patient’s risk of heart failure. But no current heart failure treatments target these metabolic derangements.”
He also revealed that “Liraglutide had no effect on blood sugar or weight loss among the non-diabetic patients in the study.”
The research study spread out over 6 months included a random sample of 300 “diabetes-free” and diabetic people “with high-risk heart failure”. The heart failure patients had recently undergone hospitalization and were split into two groups, one was given the diabetes drug injections and the other group had patients administered placebo injections.
The heart function and structure of these patients was regularly monitored by ECG’s and patients’ activity tolerance was kept an eye on by the researchers. Quality of life questionnaires and six minute walk tests, were studied in relation to the effect of liraglutide, and researchers found out that the drug did not act favorably or unfavorably, in the cases of high risk heart failure cases.
The study research has been published in the “Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
