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A diabetes drug could help lower the risk of heart failure in certain patients.

A new study published in Nature Medicine analyzed how SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin, a medication used to treat type 2 diabetes, could help prevent heart failure in people with rare genetic variants linked to cardiomyopathy (a progressive disease of the heart muscle).

Using data from the DECLARE-TIMI 58 trial, researchers from Harvard Medical School, Mass General Brigham and MIT looked at more than 12,000 adults who had type 2 diabetes and increased cardiovascular risk.

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About 121 participants carried inherited gene variants that could raise their chances of developing cardiomyopathy.

After a median 4.2-year follow-up, dapagliflozin was found to lower hospitalization for heart failure more in individuals with the variants than in those without.

While dapagliflozin lowered heart failure hospitalization in both groups, the reduction was about eight times stronger in carriers of the genetic variant.

Among the 82% of carriers without a prior history of heart failure, 12.8% developed heart failure in the placebo group, while no heart-failure events were observed among carriers receiving dapagliflozin.

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Co-lead study author Shinwan Kany, MD, a visiting scientist at the Cardiovascular Research Center with Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute and the Broad Institute, commented on how these findings could shape preventive care.

“Historically, identifying a genetic variant for cardiomyopathy mostly meant telling a patient they were at high risk and not having a specific preventive therapy to offer,” he said in a press release. “These data show we do have tools to lower risk in these individuals.”

As this was an analysis of a larger randomized trial, the results require further confirmation, according to experts. The narrow sample size of carriers also poses a limitation.

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“These findings are very encouraging because they suggest we may be entering an era where heart failure prevention becomes more precise and more genetically informed,” Andrew Freeman, MD, a cardiologist at National Jewish Health, told Fox News Digital.

Freeman, who was not involved in the study, called the research “important and provocative.”

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Participants with no history of heart failure who took dapagliflozin were less likely to develop the condition, a finding that “raises the possibility that SGLT2 inhibitors may be especially useful as preventive therapy in genetically high-risk individuals,” the doctor said.

“This should be viewed as an exciting hypothesis-generating finding, not yet a practice-changing mandate for all patients with these genetic variants,” Freeman cautioned.

SGLT2 inhibitors are already “foundational” cardiovascular and kidney-protective medications, the doctor noted.

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“They reduce heart failure hospitalization across a broad range of patients, including those with diabetes, chronic kidney disease and established heart failure,” he said. “What this study adds is the possibility that genetic information may help identify a subgroup of people who derive especially large benefit from early treatment.”

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Genetic testing for cardiomyopathy is often used for diagnosis, family screening and risk stratification, Freeman said.

If future clinical trials confirm the findings, cardiologists could eventually use genetic screening to identify high-risk patients, monitor them more closely, and begin treatments such as SGLT2 inhibitors before heart failure symptoms appear, according to the cardiologist.

Heart failure does not always begin when symptoms appear, Freeman noted. In some patients, risk may be present years earlier due to inherited genetics.

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Preventive cardiology could identify high-risk patients earlier, before they develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, fluid retention or the need for hospitalization.

The decision to medicate should always be discussed with a clinician, Freeman advised, especially for those with a personal or family history of cardiovascular events.

A woman with advanced Alzheimer’s disease saw significant improvements in brain function after taking psilocybin-containing mushrooms.

That’s according to a case report recently published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, which focused on an elderly woman who had been living with Alzheimer’s disease for about 10 years. 

The Japanese American woman, whose name was not shared, had experienced severe functional decline for roughly five years. The Brazilian study authors described her as having advanced dementia, with very limited speech or communication, severe cognitive impairment, urinary incontinence and reduced mobility.

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She also depended on caregivers for assistance with daily living activities.

The woman received two sessions of psilocybin-containing mushrooms. The first was a 5-gram oral dose, followed by a 3-gram oral dose a month later.

After the first dose, she experienced profuse sweating and hyperthermia, followed by a prolonged sleep-like state.

Approximately 19 hours later, the patient “spontaneously initiated autobiographical conversation lasting several hours,” the researchers wrote.

Over the following days and weeks, the woman experienced restored urinary continence, was able to walk independently and dress herself, and engaged in spontaneous conversation. She was also able to retrieve contextual memories, showed the ability to express emotions and maintained eye contact — smiling with others.

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After the second session, the authors reported that the woman had even greater speech capabilities, more facial expressions and humor, increased walking agility and continued continence.

Beyond the heavy sweating, hyperthermia and sleep-like state, the patient did not experience severe or persistent adverse effects, the researchers noted.

Although the reported benefits lasted for at least one month, the paper does not provide longer-term follow-up.

The authors said the findings should be interpreted with caution, as they are based on a single patient.

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The case also included no control group, standardized cognitive assessments, brain imaging biomarkers, electrophysiological monitoring or sleep studies, they noted.

The patient’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis was not confirmed with modern biomarkers, and other neurodegenerative conditions could not be completely ruled out, the study stated.

As the patient may have experienced natural fluctuations in her medical condition, the study could not establish that psilocybin directly caused the woman’s improvements.

While the study suggests that psilocybin-containing mushrooms could temporarily reactivate brain function in people with late-stage dementia, the authors noted that controlled clinical trials, cognitive assessments, imaging scans and other tests are needed to confirm the findings.

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“Much more research is needed in larger, more representative study populations before any conclusions can be drawn about psilocybin’s safety and effectiveness in people living with Alzheimer’s or any other disease that causes dementia,” Courtney Kloske, Ph.D., director of scientific engagement at the Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago, told Fox News Digital.

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Kloske, who was not involved in the study, emphasized that people living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers should talk with their doctor about all medications, vitamins, supplements and other substances they are taking.

“This helps healthcare providers understand how these products may interact with approved Alzheimer’s medications and other therapies to determine whether they could lead to unwanted side effects,” she advised.

“It might have some value in a carefully controlled setting.”

Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, said he is “dubious” of the significance of the study because the effect was described as temporary and was limited to one case.

“Also, there is a built-in danger of giving a hallucinogen to someone with this degree of mental impairment, because the behavioral effects are largely unpredictable and can be harmful,” Siegel, who also was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.

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“Having said that, I am not surprised to see that psilocybin could temporarily overcome or alter the gummed-up [brain] circuitry (with plaques) of advanced Alzheimer’s disease – so it might have some value in a carefully controlled setting.”

The findings come as several states have expanded legal access to psilocybin. (The substance remains federally illegal in the U.S. as a Schedule I substance.)

Oregon began licensing psilocybin service centers in 2023, Colorado’s regulated natural medicine program became operational in 2025, and New Mexico enacted a Medical Psilocybin Act in 2025, according to state officials.

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Still, there are currently no FDA-approved psilocybin treatments for Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, and legal access remains limited to certain state-regulated programs or approved research settings.

Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.