Metabolic Link Between Diabetes and MI

The global increase of type 2 diabetes is creating important cardiovascular consequences worldwide because diabetes is a major risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease. Approximately 20–30% of patients who suffer an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) also have been previously diagnosed with diabetes. These patients are at increased risk of both short-term and long-term cardiovascular events in the future.

Researchers in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Argentina, and Russia collaborated to study the risk associated with a new diagnosis of diabetes and outcome after an AMI. David Aguilar, MD, and colleagues assessed the risk of death and major cardiovascular events by studying 14,703 heart attack patients. These patients were categorized as either previously diagnosed with diabetes before the heart attack (23%); diagnosed with diabetes after the heart attack (4%); or nondiabetic (73%).

Patients with newly diagnosed diabetes were younger and had fewer complications than did patients with previously known diabetes. One year after enrollment in the study, patients with previously known and newly diagnosed diabetes showed a similar increase of adjusted risk of death and cardiovascular events.