Women with Diabetes Are at Higher Risk of Heart Problems

Two new studies indicate that women with diabetes are more likely to suffer from heart problems than men with the same disorder.

One of the studies, conducted by a team of researchers with the Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, Nanjing, China is a meta-analysis of 19 other studies conducted from 1966 until 2014, including over 11 million patients.

The second study, also a meta-analysis of previous research conducted between 2005 and 2012 in Tuscany, Italy, included 3 million patients, of which 47 percent were male.

Both studies found that the risk of acute coronary syndrome is more likely to be present with women diagnosed with diabetes than with men. According to Doctor Xue Dong, lead author of the study:

“We should avoid sexual prejudice in cardiovascular disease, take all necessary steps to diagnose it early, and control risk factors comprehensively to guarantee the most suitable treatments and best possible outcomes in female patients”.

Diabetes is a long-debated risk factor for heart problems. However, it seems no studies have been targeting particularly the female segment of the population and how diabetes influences their risk of acute coronary syndrome.

Of the patients included in the first study, 106,000 had suffered heart attacks, both leading to death or non-fatal or reported angina (chest pain). According to the findings of this study, women previously diagnosed with diabetes presented 38 percent higher chances of suffering a heart attack or developing other heart complications than men.

The second study, conducted under the lead of Doctor Giuseppe Seghieri of the Regional Health Agency, Florence found a similar risk as the previous study. Overall, the researchers found that women that had diabetes also had 34 percent higher risk of heart attacks than men diagnosed with diabetes. Age didn’t play any role in the finding.

However, when looking at the risk of congestive heart failure, the researchers found that both men and women diagnosed with diabetes was the same.

The findings of both studies are scheduled for presentation during the meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes taking place in Stockholm, Sweden. The results are not yet peer-reviewed or published.

Photo Credits: researchforthefuture.org