Novel research into glucose-lowering drugs for heart failure shows promise

Heart failure is one of the most prevalent long-term conditions, which arises as a complication of several other cardiac conditions—the most common being ischaemic heart disease. Over 900 000 people are living with heart failure in the UK (British Heart Foundation, 2019) and it is a condition that can have a tremendous impact on a person's quality of life. While most common in older people, heart failure can occur at any age, and tends to gradually worsen over time. It often co-exists with depression, and can manifest in symptoms of breathlessness, tiredness and swelling of the ankles and legs (NHS, 2018; Sharap and McCowat, 2019).

Alongside important lifestyle changes, first-line treatment for heart failure is an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and a beta blocker licensed for heart failure in people with reduced ejection fraction (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 2018). If ACE inhibitors are unsuitable or not tolerated, the other main pharmacological treatments for heart failure currently include: angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), beta blockers as mentioned, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, diuretics, ivabradine, sacubitril valsartan, hydralazine with nitrate and digoxin (NHS, 2018). Some people with heart failure may also have devices implanted such as a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) (NHS, 2018).