Ali Sheffeh of the Mayo Clinic and colleagues analyzed medical data and found that taking antidiabetic drugs from the groups of GLP-1 receptor agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors (gliflozins) after an ischemic stroke significantly reduces the risk of myocardial infarction and recurrent stroke. The analysis included more than 7,000 patients (average age 72 years; 52 percent men) who had an 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.
Participants were followed for a median of 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 than those who were not prescribed these drugs. In addition, those taking gliflozins had a 67 percent lower risk of recurrent stroke. These associations persisted after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, peripheral arterial disease, hyperlipidemia, chronic kidney disease, and a history of myocardial infarction or heart failure.
