My Healthy Heart Blogs
Heart Disease and Diabetes May Share Two-way Association
09/04/07
Nutrition & Exercise, Living Well, Prevention, Research, General
Diabetes can negatively affect heart health. That fact has been long-established by medical research. However, new studies are finding that heart attack may indicate an increased risk of developing diabetes.
Investigators in Italy gathered data on more than 8,000 patients who had suffered acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack, and were diabetes-free at the time of their respective cardiac events.
Researchers recorded the number of new-onset diabetes as well as impaired fasting glucose measurements in six month increments starting at six months and ending at three and a half years after heart attack. Each patient was also assigned a Mediterranean diet score based on consumption of cooked and raw vegetables, fruit, fish, and olive oil.
After an average of 3.2 years, 12 percent of patients had developed new-onset diabetes. Another 33 percent developed either diabetes or impaired fasting glucose. That amounts to a diabetes incidence of 3.5 percent among heart attack sufferers. In the general population, the incidence is between 0.8 and 1.6 percent. For those who had suffered heart attack, a higher Mediterranean diet score was associated with lower risk of diabetes.
"Although these results show a high long-term risk for prediabetes and diabetes after MI, it would be premature to assume that MI causes diabetes," commented Beat J. Meyer, M.D. "However, this study reinforces the value to these patients of adherence to a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, fruit, fish, and olive oil, which confers protection from cardiovascular death and new diabetes — a potential double benefit."
Source:
Journal Watch Cardiology
