Weight Gain Due to Diabetes Drugs Increases Risk of Heart Failure

Heart failure is a common occurrence for patients with type 2 diabetes. It has a major impact on one's life expectancy and quality of life as well as represents a major driver of healthcare costs. The sugar lowering medications used to manage diabetes often cause weight gain. Researchers have found that for every one kilogram of weight gain attributed to a sugar-lowering diabetes medication or strategy, there was an associated 7% increased risk of heart failure directly linked to that medication or strategy.

Dr. Jacob Udell, the study's principal investigator, and cardiologist at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network (UHN) and Women's College Hospital (WCH), said, "Patients randomized to new or more intensive blood sugar-lowering drugs or strategies to manage diabetes showed an overall 14% increased risk for heart failure and this increased risk was directly associated with the type of diabetes therapy that was chosen, with some drugs more likely to cause heart failure than others, compared with placebo or standard care."