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Diabetics Have Higher Risk of Silent Heart Disease
One in six diabetic patients may have heart disease that could shorten their 10-year life expectancy by 29% according to a new study published in the American Heart Journal. These patients, examined with a nuclear imaging test call SPECT, showed their hearts were pumping an unusually low amount of blood.
Dr. Panithaya Chareonthaitawee and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, examined records of 1,046 diabetics with no symptoms of heart disease and found that 16.7% of them had left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) which reduces the amount of blood the heart pumps.
Patients who have reduced LVEF and lacking in symptoms can be treated with commonly used high blood pressure medicines called ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers. It is also recommended that patients stop smoking and lose weight.
Because heart failure can be treated and outcomes improved, there is a potential role for screening patients. Dr. Chareonthaitawee emphasized that these are preliminary findings and need to be confirmed by larger studies.