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Diabetes doubles heart attack risk

Diabetes appears to double the risk of dying from a heart attack, stroke or other conditions affecting blood vessels, a new study finds.

Diabetes doubles heart attack risk

Diabetes appears to double the risk of dying from a heart attack, stroke or other  conditions affecting blood vessels, a new study finds.

Cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death around the world, accounts for some 17 million deaths every year. To see if diabetes could be a risk factor for deaths from cardiovascular diseases and different types of strokes, researchers analysed  data on 698,782 people who participated in an international consortium. The participants were followed for 10 years through 102 surveys done in 25 countries.

It was found that having diabetes nearly doubled the risk of suffering from coronary heart disease, major stroke subtypes and various diseases involving the  blood vessels. But this risk was only partially due to the usual culprits - cholesterol, blood pressure and obesity. Diabetes was about a third more strongly related to fatal than to non-fatal heart attacks, perhaps suggesting more severe forms of lesions in people with diabetes than in those without the disease. The researchers also found that diabetes conferred a greater risk in some groups of individuals, namely women, younger ages, non-smokers, and those with lower-than-average blood pressure. In addition, it was found that higher-than-normal blood sugar in people without diabetes was only modestly  related to having a heart attack or stroke.

This suggests that diabetes may cause cardiovascular disease by a different mechanism and further investigation is needed to establish the implications of such effect.
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