Good Heart News for Diabetics
Reported November 25, 2004
(Ivanhoe Newswire)–A new study shows there has been a 50-percent decline in cardiovascular disease events among diabetics in recent decades.
Past research shows that over the past 50 years, cardiovascular disease events including heart attacks, coronary heart disease death, and stroke have decreased. Yet, it was not clear whether diabetics, who have up to a four-fold increase risk of cardiovascular disease, also experienced a decline.
Researchers examined the health records of nearly 8,000 patients with diabetes over a span of 34 years and found these patients had more of a decrease in cardiovascular disease events than people who did not have diabetes.
Caroline S. Fox, M.D., M.P.H., co-author of the study, says, “Patients with diabetes have benefited in a similar manner to those without diabetes during the decline in cardiovascular disease in the United States population over the last several decades. Although gains have been made, substantial opportunity remains for additional progress to reduce the high absolute risk of cardiovascular disease events in persons with diabetes.”
SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2004;292:2495-2499