I wrote – Yasmine El Sawy:
Last week the NHS approved a tablet called Finerenone for type 2 diabetes patients with kidney disease.
Doctors usually recommend that diabetic patients take medication every day to reduce their risk of developing kidney and heart health complications, which can be life-threatening, according to the British Daily Mail.
High sugar levels in people with diabetes can damage blood vessels in the kidneys and therefore are unable to filter toxins from the blood, which is bad for heart health>
Experts said the drug’s approval would benefit up to 1.5 million British diabetics, who either have kidney disease or are expected to develop it in the future.
Finerenone, also known as Kerendia, reduces the amount of aldosterone produced by the body and affects kidney health.
This drug has also been found to be safer than previous drugs, meaning it has no complications that affect heart health.
The global study of the drug included more than 5,500 adults with kidney disease associated with type 2 diabetes who took the drug on a daily basis.
The results showed that about a fifth of those who took the drug were less likely to die of kidney failure than type 2 diabetes patients who did not take the drug.
This drug was also shown to reduce the risk of death from heart failure by 14% after two and a half years.
The researchers believe the long-term benefits could be greater, noting that taking one tablet every day can reduce the risk of developing kidney failure by up to 40%, which reduces the chances of hospitalization and death.
The next step will likely be to offer this treatment to kidney patients who don’t have diabetes, meaning that many more patients could benefit from it.
