Lower Blood Glucose
In a large, 12-year observational study using data from the UK Biobank, men and women with prediabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, and, most significantly, diagnosed diabetes were at higher risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), whereas those with low-normal A1c were at lower risk of this.
The findings emphasize “the need for strategies to reduce risk of CVD across the [glycemic] spectrum,” write Christopher T. Rentsch, MPH, PhD, and coworkers in their study, which was released on August 11 in The Lancet Regional Health Europe.
According to the findings, “excess [CVD] risks in both men and women were primarily explained by modifiable factors and might be ameliorated by attention to weight loss techniques and increased use of antihypertensive and statin drugs.
Addressing these risk variables, say the researchers, “could reduce sex disparities in [glycemia]-related risks of CVD.”
After age was taken into consideration, men had a greater absolute rate of CVD events than women (16.9 vs. 9.1 events per 1000 person-years), but women had a higher relative risk.
Women were less likely than men to be using a statin (71% vs. 75%) or antihypertensive medication (64% vs. 69%), and they were more likely to be obese (63% vs. 53%).
“The Lower, the Better”
In order to protect against heart disease, blood sugar levels within the “normal” range should be kept as low as possible, according to research by Rentsch, assistant professor of pharmacoepidemiology the United Kingdom, who wrote to Medscape in an email.
He found that those with blood glucose levels that were lower than normal had a 10% lower risk of having any form of.
Findings from the study “support women being proactive in asking about medications like statins and antihypertensives as an option to help lower their [CVD] risk, if clinically appropriate,” added Rentsch.
Even after taking into consideration a significant number of sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical variables, he noted, “We found that men and women with diagnosed diabetes remained at elevated risk for three types .
On the other hand, “total cholesterol, family history of CVD, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and C-reactive protein had relatively little impact on explaining the risk of heart disease associated with blood sugar.”
According to Robert Storey, DM, professor of cardiology at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, “it is well established that being overweight can lead higher blood pressure, which are factors that contribute.
