Drug class linked to fewer deaths in diabetes and limb artery disease
The drugs were associated with lower mortality than metformin alone, with a hazard ratio of 0.55, but no significant reduction in limb complications.
Our read
Populations- Studied:
- Cohort study of 12,945 adults with peripheral artery disease and diabetes, against metformin alone
- What changed:
- Death from any cause was lower with GLP-1 receptor agonists than metformin alone (hazard ratio 0.55)
- The catch:
- Underlying health or care could differ between treatment groups despite statistical adjustment
- In the record:
- The 1,327th paper on GLP-1 receptor agonists with results in people; 4,739 on record in all. Its result on mortality agrees with 184 of 204 other findings on record; 1 points the other way and 19 found no change.
- Why it’s aging research:
- It studies an intervention with evidence of extending healthy life.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In Israel, 12,945 adults with peripheral artery disease—narrowed arteries supplying the limbs—and diabetes were included in a retrospective observational cohort study. Researchers compared 5,898 users of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, a class of diabetes drugs, with 7,047 people taking metformin alone. Median follow-up exceeded five years.
After statistical adjustment for baseline differences, the drug class was associated with lower mortality from any cause. The hazard ratio, which compares death rates over time, was 0.55. The combined outcome of procedures to restore leg blood flow or major amputation showed no significant reduction; the range of likely values included no difference. Major amputation and any lower-limb amputation also showed no significant reduction when assessed separately.
Why it matters
For people with peripheral artery disease and diabetes, survival and preserving limbs are distinct concerns when assessing the possible benefits of these drugs.
Caveats
People receiving the two treatments may have differed in underlying health or care despite statistical adjustment. The conference abstract reported findings in adults with both peripheral artery disease and diabetes, not people without those conditions.
The paper
Palestinian Clinical Rsch Cntr; Kaplan Med Cntr
AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 Abstract, Nov 2, 2026
Presented at AHA Scientific Sessions 2026, abstract 10859
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