Heart Disease Declines in People with Diabetes

Fewer people with diabetes have developed heart disease or had strokes according to a new study completed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Heart disease and stroke kill over half of all people with diabetes, making this decline particularly significant. People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die of heart disease according to the CDC.

The study examined the medical histories of people 35 or older who had previously been diagnosed with diabetes. The researchers for the CDC found that the overall rate of heart disease and stroke had decreased by about 11 percent over an eight year period ranging from 1997 to 2005.

Researchers speculate that the decline of heart disease and stroke may be due to an overall decline of other risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking. Proactive treatment such as taking aspirin to thin the blood and prevent strokes is also credited with reducing the rate of cardiovascular problems.

For African Americans heart disease and stroke rates fell even further during the eight year period, to more than 25 percent less than previous levels. African Americans are more likely to have diabetes than any other ethnicity studied within the report.

"Cardiovascular disease is not only the leading cause of death for Americans, it is also the greatest killer of adults with diabetes," said Nilka Burrows, CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation and the lead author of the report according to a press release issued by the CDC. "While the trends in this report are very encouraging, it is important that we continue to take steps to help prevent and control diabetes, which will also aid in the fight against cardiovascular disease."

The study used information given by adults with diabetes to the National Health Interview Survey. There was a 14 percent decline in heart disease and strokes according to the information self reported by diabetics between the ages of 35 and 64 years. This period is when an adult is most likely to be diagnosed with type II diabetes.

The full results of the study looking at the relationship between diabetes and heart disease and stroke can be found in the published paper titled "Trends in Prevalence of Self-Reported Cardiovascular Disease Among Adults with Diabetes Aged 35 Years and Older, United States, 1997 - 2005" in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Source:

Department of Health and Human Services, "Cardiovascular Disease Decreasing Among Adults with Diabetes" Center for Disease Control and Prevention