Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors May Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in High Risk Individuals

The commonly accepted definition of prediabetes is as follows: prediabetes is when a person has abnormally high blood glucose, but the blood glucose is not high enough to be called diabetes. Over 96 million adult Americans have prediabetes and most of them don't know they have the condition. And for those persons with prediabetes who also have chronic kidney disease or heart failure, one study, which was a meta-analysis, indicates that Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2  or SGLT2 inhibitors can be helpful in lowering the risk of progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes. 

SGLT2 inhibitors are an FDA-approved family of prescription medications that are used in conjunction with diet and exercise to reduce blood sugar levels in persons with type 2 diabetes. "Medicines in the SGLT2 inhibitor class include canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and empagliflozin. They are offered as both single-ingredient formulations and in combinations with other diabetes medications, such as metformin." SGLT2 inhibitors reduce blood sugar by stimulating the kidneys to excrete sugar through urine.

The meta-analysis, mentioned above, was performed by searching randomized controlled trials (RTCs) in the Medline and Embase databases. The study's objective was to determine if SGLT2 inhibitors lowered the risk of diabetes in individuals with prediabetes. The study consisted of 5655 participants with prediabetes. The database searchers were completed on February 11, 2022.

After comparing individuals with prediabetes who used SGLT2 inhibitors with a control group, the researchers concluded that SGLT2 inhibitors lowered the risk of diabetes. In fact, the researchers indicated that SGLT2 inhibitors lowered the risk of type2 diabetes for "adults with prediabetes and heart failure or chronic kidney disease."

Since type 2 diabetes is a serious condition which is continuing to be more prevalent, healthcare providers should use all tools in their arsenals to lower the risk of the disease progressing from prediabetes to diabetes. Lifestyle medicine methods are often used to treat prediabetes to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes. Perhaps, for those patients with prediabetes and heart failure or chronic kidney disease, SGLT2 inhibitors may be worth considering.

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