Ranexa Can Treat the Symptoms of Angina in Type 2 Diabetics

Man with type 2 diabetes checking his glucose levelsA new diabetes clinical study has provided strong evidence that the drug Ranexa (ranolazine) could reduce the level of chest pain that some people with type 2 diabetes experience as a result of their condition. This drug was approved for the treatment of chronic angina (chest pain) in the United States, but this is the very first time that scientists have evaluated its potential use for patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes, heart disease, and angina.

According to Dr. Howard Weintraub, the associate clinical professor in the department of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, this study has demonstrated that ranolazine can be used effectively to reduce the symptoms of angina in type 2 diabetics. In fact, it appears to work even better in patients who have higher blood sugar.

Anyone who is living with diabetes has an elevated risk for heart disease, and anyone who has developed heart disease and diabetes is much more likely to experience the symptoms of angina compared to those who do not have diabetes.

What Can Ranexa Do for People with Type 2 Diabetes?

This diabetes clinical trial involved more than 900 participants who were administered either 1,000 milligrams of Ranexa or a placebo two times a day over the course of eight weeks. The study participants all had type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and each experienced at least one attack of angina each week. They were also taking at least one other drug for angina prior to enrolling in this study.

During the middle and later stages of the study, the participants given Ranexa were experiencing an average of 3.8 angina episodes per week, while the participants taking the placebo were experiencing an average of 4.3 episodes a week. Also, the participants on Ranexa only required 1.7 doses of nitroglycerin per week, compared to the 2.1 doses per week for the placebo group. Nitroglycerin is actually used to relieve chest pain in patients who have heart disease.

The results of this clinical study were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology which was held in San Francisco in Sunday. They were also made available online the exact same day in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and will be published in the real journal on May 21st.

(Just to note, this study was funded by Gilead Sciences, Inc., the producers of Ranexa)

The Prevalence of Angina Among Diabetics

The lead author of this study was Dr. Mikhail Kosiborod, a cardiologist at St. Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Missouri. As far as he is concerned, angina has been linked to a lower overall quality of life and higher healthcare costs, plus it generally seems to affect more people who have been diagnosed with diabetes.

Dr. Kosiborod stated in a press meeting that, “While ranolazine was shown to be effective in reducing angina in prior studies, this is the first time it has been prospectively evaluated in patients with diabetes — a high-risk and therapeutically challenging group.”

Ranexa Works Best With High Blood Sugar

This diabetes clinical trial also highlighted the fact that Ranexa worked best for the participants who actually had the worst control over their blood glucose levels. Previous studies had suggested that this drug could lower a diabetics glucose levels when they fasted.

“Ranolazine is an effective anti-anginal drug in patients with diabetes and may also have a glucose [blood sugar]-lowering effect,” Kosiborod explained. “If the glucose-lowering action of ranolazine is confirmed in future studies, patients with diabetes and angina may derive a dual benefit from this drug.”

Dr. Weintraub agreed with this assessment, as he stated, “”As the focus of the treatment of angina in diabetics increasingly focuses on [drug] therapy, this may offer another choice in optimal medical care in this group of patients.”

Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Hypertension in America

Most of the people who took part in this study were male (61 percent), 91 percent of which had high blood pressure (hypertension) and 74 percent had already experienced at least one heart attack in their lives. Most of the participants were also on statins for high cholesterol and other drugs like ACE inhibitors for heart complications, but only 16 percent of the participants were smokers.

The number of people who have diabetes in America is rapidly approaching 30 million, of which type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 90 percent. The most common causes of type 2 diabetes are currently considered to be a low level of exercise and obesity. If no potential cure for diabetes is developed, then one out of every three American adults could be living with this disease by the year 2050, according to the estimates of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).