Breakthrough discovery targets biggest diabetes killer

A diabetes drug which was initially used to lower blood sugar could help prevent heart attacks — the biggest killer among those with diabetes.

The drug, dapagliflozin, has been shown to reduce heart attacks and potentially other cardiovascular complications.

Deputy Head of the Diabetes Department at Monash University, Professor Karin Jandeleit-Dahm, says Melbourne researchers have created the first animal model that enables drugs to be tested to see how they impact diabetes and heart disease.

“This will be able to fast-track the further development and the wider use of this drug, not only to diabetes patients, but also potentially to other patients at very high cardiovascular risk,” she told Emily Power and Jimmy Bartel, filling in for Ross and Russel.

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