Diabetic men have similar long-term mortality risks as males with heart disease

Washington, Jan 6 (ANI): Scientists have found that men with type 2 diabetes and males with cardiovascular disease have similar long-term mortality risks.

The study revealed that men with type 2 diabetes and men with previous heart attack or stroke had a 3 to 4 fold risk of cardiovascular death, as compared to men without either disease in the years following the first acute event.

The study underscores the high risk of diabetes, as "men with type 2 diabetes and no previous cardiovascular disease had a 3-fold cardiovascular mortality risk compared with men with neither cardiovascular disease nor diabetes at the beginning of the follow-up," write Dr. Gilles Dagenais and colleagues from Laval University and the University of Montreal.

However, the study was limited to white men and diabetes was self-reported in two-thirds of cases.

In the first five years, men with type 2 diabetes had a lower risk for cardiovascular mortality compared to men with previous heart attack or stroke and without diabetes.

But, in the long term, the researchers discovered that the 2 groups had similar mortality risks.

The findings highlight that there's a need for prevention and optimal management of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

The study is published in CMAJ. (ANI)