posted 01/22/03
The risk of cardiovascular death for persons with Type I
diabetes was more than fivefold higher in men and sevenfold higher in women than
in the general population
The risk that young people with Type I diabetes
-- the kind in which the body stops making insulin -- will die of stroke or
other cardiovascular disease is much higher than had been thought, a British
study finds.
In the 20-to-39 age group, the risk of
cardiovascular death for persons with Type I diabetes was more than fivefold
higher in men and sevenfold higher in women than in the general population, says
a report in the February issue of Stroke. This study was
the first to determine that type 1 diabetes is also
a risk factor. The effect is similar in all ages, and the magnitude of risk is
at least as great as with type 2 diabetes.
"The results from
this group of patients with type 1 diabetes show that at all ages death from
cerebrovascular disease is higher in the patients with diabetes than in the
general population," lead author Susan P. Laing, PhD, from the Institute of
Cancer Research in Surrey, U.K., says in a news release.
From 1972 to 1993,
the Diabetes UK Cohort study identified 23,751 patients diagnosed with type 1
diabetes before age 30 years, and it followed them until December of 2000, for
an average of 17 years.
Of 1,437 deaths, 80
were caused by cerebrovascular disease, which accounted for 4% of all deaths
younger than 40 years and 8% of all deaths older than 40 years. Standardized
mortality ratios (SMR) showed that these rates were significantly higher than
expected when compared with the general population. SMR was 3.1 (95% confidence
interval [CI], 2.2 - 4.3) for men and 4.4 (95% CI, 3.1 - 6.0) for women.
In subjects aged 20
to 39 years, the risk of cerebrovascular death was increased more than five-fold
in men and seven-fold in women compared with the general population. Separate
analysis of hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic stroke still revealed a significant
increase in mortality from nonhemorrhagic stroke.
The authors conclude
that "at younger ages, the relative risks of cerebrovascular mortality in
patients with type 1 diabetes are very high," and that at all ages they are
"still comparable to those of similarly aged patients with type 2 diabetes."
"These observations emphasize the vital need to identify and treat known cardiovascular risk factors in young people with diabetes," Dr. Laing says.
Source: Diabetes In Control Dot Com: Stroke. 2003;34:000-000.
January 2003 News Article Index
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