Type 2 Diabetes And Heart Disease Can Be Lethal Combination

People battling both type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease are at an increased risk of death, according to a new study conducted by University of Connecticut researchers.

Patients with type 2 diabetes who were admitted into hospitals for congestive heart failure could experience a one in four chance of dying over the next year and a half. Researchers claim that the findings shed critical light on the dangers facing diabetic patients with severe heart disease than was previously suspected.

"Type 2 diabetes accompanied by an acute coronary syndrome needs much more attention, especially in order to prevent yet another major cardiac event," said Professor Dr. William B. White, lead author of the study.

Heart disease risk

Type 2 diabetic patients are two to three times more likely to encounter heart disease than the general population. Researchers believe this is due in part to obesity, hypertension, elevated cholesterol and medications aimed at controlling blood sugar that inadvertently harm the heart.

Results from the study showed that individuals with type 2 diabetes who had been admitted to a hospital for heart complications encountered a 24 to 28 percent chance of death compared to patients with no cardiovascular events during the three-year study.

"It's a very dramatic result," said White. "A person with type 2 diabetes requiring hospitalization for heart failure in the trial was a harbinger of a very poor outcome."

Armed with this new knowledge, researchers are looking over additional data from the study such as discovering patterns of proteins in the blood that could give medical professionals early warning signs of an impending cardiovascular events.

Source: EurekAlert!