Diabetes Pill's Added Bonus Is Protection From Heart Attacks
- Lilly-Boehringer drug is first to show such an effect
- Jardiance shows 38 percent lower risk of death in study
This article is for subscribers only.
A diabetes pill called Jardiance cut deaths from heart attacks and strokes in thousands of patients, the first drug to show promise in helping subdue two of the world’s most rampant health epidemics.
The medicine, sold by Eli Lilly & Co. and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths by 14 percent in a study of 7,020 people with adult-onset diabetes and a high risk of heart problems. Patients who took Jardiance in addition to standard diabetes and heart drugs didn’t actually suffer fewer heart attacks or strokes, but they had a 38 percent lower chance of dying.