Grant: Project Grant

New diabetes medications for patients with heart disease, first developed diabetes, not only lower blood sugar, but lower the chance of a heart attack, stroke or death, and are changing the way heart disease is being treated. It is important to study how the new drugs are being used to make sure that those patients who should be prescribed the new drugs are getting them safely and effectively. Changing treatment approaches often create uncertainty for doctors, patients and healthcare systems who might not know the best way to use new therapies. This may affect how the drugs are prescribed and how patients take the medications. Our research proposal is to study how the important new diabetes medications are being used in real-life practice to make sure patients who qualify get the most benefit. We will learn about which patients with heart disease might develop side effects that may happen from adding the new therapy to their existing heart medications. We will also study whether patients are taking these medications long-term as is typically recommended. Most patients with heart disease as well as those with diabetes will die from heart attack or stroke, and this new class of medications should be used when safe to do so to lower heart disease events. Our results will provide important information to help doctors, patients, and healthcare plans develop ways to improve their safe use of the new drugs to improve heart health. As the Canadian population ages, learning how to best manage heart disease safely with medications can have a great impact on improving the heart health for vast numbers of Canadians.