Ali Sheffeh of the Mayo Clinic and colleagues analyzed medical data and found that taking antidiabetic drugs from the GLP-1 receptor agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors (gliflozins) classes after ischemic stroke significantly reduces the risk of myocardial infarction and recurrent stroke. The analysis included more than 7,000 patients (mean age 72 years; 52 percent men) who had ischemic stroke between 2000 and 2022 from the REP database. The results were presented at the 2024 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago and described in a press release from the organization.
The average follow-up period was three years. During this period, those who took GLP-1 agonists or gliflozins for any indication after a stroke had an 84 percent lower risk of myocardial infarction and a 74 percent lower risk of death compared to those who were not prescribed these drugs. Furthermore, those taking gliflozins reduced the risk of recurrent stroke by 67 percent. These correlations persisted after adjusting for age, gender, smoking, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, peripheral arterial disease, hyperlipidemia, chronic kidney disease, and a history of myocardial infarction or heart failure.
