Heart Attacks in Diabetics Double in a Decade

According to a new study the number of heart attacks suffered by diabetics has doubled in the last ten years.

Findings of the study conducted by researchers from Imperial College in London and Leicester University was released today at a Glasgow conference.

According to the study, Type 2 diabetes accounted for 7.2 per cent of hospital admissions for heart attacks in 1996-7. The figure rose to 13.9 per cent in 2005-6.  Specifically, the number of attacks among diabetics rose from 5,861 to 12,824 in a decade.

The findings correspond with a rise in the number of people living with diagnosed Type 2 diabetes in the UK, from about 1.2 million in 1996 to about 1.9m in 2005-6.

Christopher Millett, a consultant in public health at Imperial College involved in the research, said: "These figures provide a stark warning about the growing burden of the diabetes epidemic on the National Health Service.”

"Major efforts are required to tackle obesity - an important risk factor for diabetes - and to further improve the quality of preventative healthcare for people who already have the condition," he added.

Patients who suffer from Type2 Diabetes try to control the increase in sugar levels with a strict diet and an exercise regimen.  In later stages as the condition worsens diabetics resort to tablets or insulin injections.

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Libby Dowling, a care adviser at Diabetes UK, said: "The numbers are growing and reaching epidemic proportions. We are seeing people diagnosed younger and so the complications are likely to happen earlier.

Type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity and overweight with 80 percent of the people diagnosed with type 2 proving to be overweight, according to Dowling.

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Severe obesity can take nine years from a person's lifespan and raise their risk of breast and bowel cancer, infertility and depression.

Source-Medindia
THK/L