Kidney treatment breakthrough offers hope for those suffering diabetes
The results of the landmark medical trial undertaken by the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney showed on Monday that kidney failure reduced by 33 percent, heart failure fell 30 percent and major cardiovascular events decreased by 20 percent, Xinhua reports.
Developed to lower glucose levels, the drug canagliflozin was tested in a study of over 4,000 people in 34 countries.
According to the lead author of findings Professor Vlado Perkovic from the George Institute for Global Health, the need to find a new treatment for kidney disease is urgent, with rates of diabetes skyrocketing around the world.
"Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide but for almost two decades there have been no new treatments to protect kidney function," he said.
"This definitive trial result is a major medical breakthrough as people with diabetes and kidney disease are at extremely high risk of kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and death."
"We now have a very effective way to reduce this risk using a once daily pill."
Confident the medication can be dispersed immediately, co-author Associate Prof. Meg Jardine said with 5 million people worldwide predicted to have kidney failure by 2035 and hundreds of millions more suffering from diabetes, "this is a major breakthrough."
"What we have shown is that this drug not only protects people with diabetes from developing kidney failure, but it also protects them from heart disease, heart failure and other cardiovascular complications," she said.
"Importantly, it also helps people who already have reduced kidney function and are at particularly high risk."
Chaired by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Group of Twenty is a premier forum for international economic cooperation. Collectively, G20 countries represent two-thirds of the world's population, 85 percent of its economy, and 75 percent of international trade.
The agency went on to say that the Kingdom aims to further strengthen its ties with other G20 countries and to reach an international consensus on the Summit's agenda items. "Saudi Arabia is fully committed to the G20's objectives and to the stability and prosperity of the international economic system," it added.
In the run-up to the Summit, Saudi Arabia will host preparatory ministerial meetings, as well as meetings for senior government officials, and representatives of international organisations, the private sector and civil society.