Earlier introduction of heart-protective anti-hyperglycaemic drugs for people with diabetes could reduce their risk of heart failure, a leading cardiologist says.

Professor Tom Marwick, director of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, says a recent global study quantifying the risk of heart failure in patients with diabetes underlines the need for better prevention strategies.

“We need to think about agents that are specifically beneficial for reducing heart failure. It looks as though we have such a group of agents in the SGLT2 inhibitors,” he says.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 42 cohorts covering 12 million people, conducted by the George Institute of Global Health, showed men with type 1 diabetes had a 3.5-fold higher risk of heart failure compared with those without the condition.