Heart Failure and Diabetes Risk in Women
UAB Study Reveals Sex- and Age-Related Differences
Diabetes is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, and the prognosis for patients with heart failure is worse in the presence of diabetes. Some research suggests there is an increased mortality rate for women over men with diabetes-associated heart failure.
A study published in Heart shows additional consequences for women with diabetes who also have heart failure. The findings from that study also suggest that the mortality rate increases for older women. This is important, because most heart failure patients are older adults, and heart failure is the number one reason for hospital admission in this population.
Ali Ahmed, MD, MPH, director of UAB’s Geriatric Heart failure Clinic and Research Program, led the multicenter research team investigating diabetes’ effect on heart failure. Evaluation of more than 4,000 patients demonstrated a complex, interactive relationship among sex, diabetes and age. “The extent to which poorer outcomes are due directly to diabetes or are due to diabetes-associated co-morbidities has not been well understood,” he says.
Examination of the effects of diabetes on mortality and hospitalization rates in heart failure patients revealed clear differences between men and women. Both men and women with heart failure who also have diabetes have higher risk for mortality and hospitalization. Yet in women the effects of diabetes on mortality and hospitalization were significantly worse than in men. In men, for example, diabetes was associated with a 5 percent absolute increase in mortality; in women diabetes was linked to a 14 percent increase.
When doctors examined age-related effects of diabetes on mortality and hospitalization in groups of patients both under and over 65 years, the older women suffered the most consequences. Diabetes was associated with a 19 percent increase in mortality among older women compared with a 4 percent increase in older men. In younger men the increase in mortality was 6 percent, versus 8 percent in younger women.
In the next 20 years, the number of elderly women with heart failure is projected to double. “Because the prevalence of diabetes also increases with age, the numbers of older women with heart failure and diabetes will rise,” Ahmed says.
Ahmed advocates improving diabetes diagnosis and management in these patients. “Preventing diabetes in elderly women with heart failure and preventing heart failure in elderly women with diabetes are key components for optimizing outcomes for patients with both diseases,” he says.
For more in-depth information about unique care for Diabetes at UAB, log onto uabhealth.org/diabetes.
Diabetes is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, and the prognosis for patients with heart failure is worse in the presence of diabetes. Some research suggests there is an increased mortality rate for women over men with diabetes-associated heart failure.
A study published in Heart shows additional consequences for women with diabetes who also have heart failure. The findings from that study also suggest that the mortality rate increases for older women. This is important, because most heart failure patients are older adults, and heart failure is the number one reason for hospital admission in this population.
Ali Ahmed, MD, MPH, director of UAB’s Geriatric Heart failure Clinic and Research Program, led the multicenter research team investigating diabetes’ effect on heart failure. Evaluation of more than 4,000 patients demonstrated a complex, interactive relationship among sex, diabetes and age. “The extent to which poorer outcomes are due directly to diabetes or are due to diabetes-associated co-morbidities has not been well understood,” he says.
Examination of the effects of diabetes on mortality and hospitalization rates in heart failure patients revealed clear differences between men and women. Both men and women with heart failure who also have diabetes have higher risk for mortality and hospitalization. Yet in women the effects of diabetes on mortality and hospitalization were significantly worse than in men. In men, for example, diabetes was associated with a 5 percent absolute increase in mortality; in women diabetes was linked to a 14 percent increase.
When doctors examined age-related effects of diabetes on mortality and hospitalization in groups of patients both under and over 65 years, the older women suffered the most consequences. Diabetes was associated with a 19 percent increase in mortality among older women compared with a 4 percent increase in older men. In younger men the increase in mortality was 6 percent, versus 8 percent in younger women.
In the next 20 years, the number of elderly women with heart failure is projected to double. “Because the prevalence of diabetes also increases with age, the numbers of older women with heart failure and diabetes will rise,” Ahmed says.
Ahmed advocates improving diabetes diagnosis and management in these patients. “Preventing diabetes in elderly women with heart failure and preventing heart failure in elderly women with diabetes are key components for optimizing outcomes for patients with both diseases,” he says.
For more in-depth information about unique care for Diabetes at UAB, log onto uabhealth.org/diabetes.
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