Danger of diabetes and heart disease combination
Wednesday July 8th, 2015
People who suffer a combination of diabetes and heart disease face a hugely increased risk of death, researchers warn today.
The
risk is nearly four time that faced by those without these conditions,
a British study found.
The findings show the compounded risk of reduced life expectancy for people with any combination of diabetes, stroke, or heart attack.
Dr Emanuele Di Angelantonio and colleagues at Cambridge University, UK, explain that the rate of so-called "cardiometabolic multimorbidity", i.e. more than one of these three conditions, is rising rapidly.
In the Journal of the American Medical Association today (8 July), they write: "Considerable evidence exists about the mortality risk of having any one of these conditions alone. However, evidence is sparse about life expectancy among people who have two or three cardiometabolic conditions concomitantly."
The team set out to estimate reductions in life expectancy using figures from 689,300 participants in the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration. Information was collected between 1960 and 2007, when there were 128,843 deaths. Risk factors of these participants were compared against those for 499,808 participants in the UK Biobank.
Compared with those with none of the three conditions, risk of death from all causes was 3.7 times higher for those with diabetes and heart attack, 3.8 times higher for those with diabetes and stroke, and 3.5 times higher for those with stroke and heart attack. For those with all three conditions, the death risk was 6.9 times higher than for those without.
These figures were "little changed" after taking into account blood fat levels, blood pressure, and lifestyle factors such as smoking and diet. The authors estimate: "At the age of 60 years, a history of any two of these conditions was associated with 12 years of reduced life expectancy, and all three of these conditions was associated with 15 years of reduced life expectancy."
Professor Jeremy Pearson, from the British Heart Foundation, said: "Once someone has developed diabetes, or suffered a stroke or heart attack, it is even more essential to address all their risk factors, such as their diet and the amount of physical activity they do, to lower their risk of a subsequent heart attack or stroke and give them the best chance of a longer life."
The Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration. Association of Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity With Mortality. JAMA 8 July 2015 doi:10.1001/jama.2015.7008
Tags: Diabetes | Heart Health | UK News
Printer friendly page