Imagine someone who is obese and also has type 2 diabetes. Wow, that’s a deadly combo for heart disease. The individual is at a high risk of stiffening of the arteries (blood vessels supplying blood from the heart to the rest of the body), which ultimately accelerates heart disease. This is especially true in obese women with type 2 diabetes.

“Researchers at University of Missourie have found a drug that could prevent heart disease in obese type 2 diabetes.”

Stiffness of the arteries is associated with numerous health conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. The western diet (e.g. those yummy juicy burgers with melted cheese and those crisp and crunchy chicken nuggets) is the culprit for the rising number of individuals with insulin resistance and obesity. The high fat and carbohydrate-rich diet causes blood vessels to eventually stiffen.

The research team of Dr. Vincent De Marco analyzed the effect of the drug Linagliptin on preventing stiffness in the arteries of obese type 2 diabetic mice. Linagliptin is traditionally used to treat high blood sugar.

Linagliptin was used to treat obese type 2 diabetic female mice that were fed a western diet. The researchers noted that the mice (though obese) did not exhibit any blood vessel stiffness or any signs of heart disease.

This spells good news for obese diabetic female patients who are prone to develop heart disease. The female mice experiments now need to be tried out in human patients. More clinical research studies on the drug will confirm its potential benefit in heart disease associated with type 2 diabetes patients.