Diabetes Patients Face Higher Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, University of Dundee Study

Strategies implemented in high-income countries to improve blood glucose control in people with type 1 diabetes and so reduce complications, such as heart attacks, strokes, and early death, are working, but there is much need for further improvement, according to a study from Scotland published in this week's PLOS Medicine. Using information from national databases representing over 20 000 patients from 2005 to 2008, Scottish researchers led by Helen Colhoun from the University of Dundee, found that people with type 1 diabetes have 2 to 3 times the risk of heart attacks, strokes, or premature death than the general population and that this increased risk is higher in women than in men. The authors found that in those with type 1 diabetes, the risk (chance) of having a cardiovascular event (heart attack or stroke) for the first time was 2.5 higher in men and 3.2 higher in women, than in the general Scottish population. Furthermore, in those with type 1 diabetes, death ratesfrom any cause were 2.6 higher in men and 2.7 higher in women than in the general Scottish population.