Type 2 Diabetes Found to More Than Triple Heart Disease Risk

by | Jan 27, 2009 | 2009, Cardiovascular Health, Diabetes, Pancreatic Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. 

Heart disease affects 870,000 Americans, is the #1 cause of death in the U.S., and costs our healthcare system over $287 billion each year (1).  Now a new study (2) has found that having diabetes may increase your risk of heart disease by more than 300%.

In the study, data was analyzed from the Quebec Cardiovascular Study (3) which followed 4,376 men from Quebec, Canada.  The men were 35 to 64 years of age, did not have cardiovascular disease in 1974 and they were followed until 1998.  The researchers found that death due to cardiovascular causes occurred in nearly 1 in 4 men with diabetes versus 1 in 14 men without diabetes (23.4% vs. 6.9%)  Death from any cause occurred in a little less than half of men with diabetes versus a little less than one-quarter of controls (43.8% vs. 22.3%).  The researchers then computed that this led to a 311% increased risk of heart disease for men with diabetes versus controls.

For the researchers, “the burden of cardiovascular disease is likely increasing because of the continuing rise in the number of people newly diagnosed with or at high risk of diabetes” and that  “these findings underscore the importance of optimal management [diabetes] and its associated cardiovascular conditions, as well as the importance of pursuing research to prevent type 2 diabetes altogether.”

Source: Dagenais, Gilles R., et al. “Comparison of prognosis for men with type 2 diabetes mellitus and men with cardiovascular disease.” Canadian Medical Association Journal 180.1 (2009): 40-47.

© 2009 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors

Posted January 27, 2009.

Reference:

  1. “Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention” Addressing the Nation’s Leading Killers: At A Glance 2008” posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
  2. Dagenaise GR.  Comparison of prognosis for men with type 2 diabetes mellitus and men with cardiovascular disease.  CMAJ 2009; 180 (1). 40-47 doi:10.1503/cmaj.071027.
  3. Dagenais GR, Robitaille NM, Lupien PJ, et al. First coronary heart disease event rates in relation to major risk factors: Québec Cardiovascular Study. Can J Cardiol 1990;6:27.