Class Comparisons
Three popular types of diabetes drugs include sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT-2) inhibitors, dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP-4) inhibitors, and incretin mimetics (also referred to as glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) agonists).
See the original article for a table that lists and categorizes these types of drugs.
Study Results
A recent study compared these three types of diabetes drugs in order to determine their effect on “all-cause mortality” in patients with type 2 diabetes. While all three classes lowered blood sugar levels, only two reduced the risk of death.
The researchers found the use of SGLT-2 inhibitors and incretin mimetics was associated with lower mortality rates than DPP-4 inhibitors. More specifically, SGLT-2 inhibitors were associated with a 21% reduction in cardiovascular-related death, and incretin mimetics were associated with a 15% reduction.
However, DPP-4 inhibitors did not reduce the risk of death when compared to a placebo or no treatment at all.
One of the researchers acknowledged that further studies are needed to confirm their findings, and tracking participants for a longer period of time would be beneficial.
Side Effects
While the study did not aim to identify any particular harmful side effects directly caused by the drugs, numerous side effects have been associated with these classes of drugs in other studies. As such, one must wonder how the benefits of these drugs weigh against their potentially-fatal side effects.
For example, users of SGLT-2 inhibitors have experienced the following side effects:
- Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA)
- Ketoacidosis
- Ketosis
- Leg Amputation
- Foot or Toe(s) Amputation
- Acute Kidney Injury
- Kidney Failure / Renal Failure
- Kidney Damage
- Pyelonephritis (kidney infection)
- Urosepsis (blood infection)
- Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
- Bladder Cancer
As for DPP-4 inhibitors, these side effects have been observed:
- Heart Failure
- Kidney Failure / Renal Failure
- Kidney Problems
- Decreased Renal Function
- Cerebral Infarction / CVA / Stroke
- Myocardial Infarction (MI) / Heart Attack
- Acute Pancreatitis
- Severe Joint Pain
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Crohn’s Disease
- Rhabdomyolysis
Lastly, incretin mimetics carry a potential risk of pancreatic cancer.
Going forward, we will continue to monitor the medical literature concerning the side effects associated with these three classes of diabetes drugs.
In the meantime, we encourage you to fill out one of our free case evaluations concerning SGLT-2 inhibitors, DPP-4 inhibitors, and incretin mimetics.
Written by: Heather Helmendach, Legal Assistant
Law Offices of Thomas J. Lamb, P. A.
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