A clinical trial that followed more than 9,900 people in 24 countries has found that the drug dulaglutide reduced cardiovascular events and kidney problems in middle-aged and older people with Type 2 diabetes. During more than five years of follow-up, cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes were reduced by 12% in people taking dulaglutide compared to people taking a placebo. This effect was seen in both men and women with or without previous cardiovascular disease. In addition, during the same period, the drug reduced the development of kidney disease by 15%. The trial was led by the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, both in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Two papers describing the cardiovascular and kidney results of the trial were published on June 9, 2019 in The Lancet from the study called the Researching Cardiovascular Events with a Weekly Incretin in Diabetes (REWIND) trial. The two articles are titled “Dulaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes (REWIND): a Double-Blind, Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial” and “Dulaglutide and Renal Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes: an Exploratory Analysis of the REWIND Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trial.” "Compared to others, people with diabetes have twice the rate of cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes, and up to 40% of people with diabetes develop kidney disease," said Hertzel C. Gerstein (photo), MD, principal investigator for the study, Professor of Medicine at McMaster and Deputy Director of the PHRI. "The REWIND trial shows that dulaglutide can safely reduce these events while improving diabetes control and modestly lowering weight and blood pressure in middle-aged people with Type 2 diabetes."Login Or Register To Read Full Story