Diabetes en hartproblemen*
Volgens een Britse studie blijken mensen met diabetes type-2 bijna 50% meer kans te hebben op een
hartaanval, één van de belangrijkste redenen dat vele duizenden mensen met diabetes vroegtijdig overlijden. Twee jaar lang werd gekeken naar bijna 2 miljoen mensen met diabetes. Mensen
met diabetes bleken ook nog 25% meer kans te hebben op een beroerte, 65% meer kans op
hartfalen en 200% meer kans op nierdialyse of niertransplantatie. Mensen met diabetes type-1 bleken 35% meer kans te hebben op een hartaanval. Alles vergeleken met mensen zonder diabetes. Wat opviel was dat er nogal verschillen waren tussen de ene en de andere regio. De onderzoekers vinden het daarom belangrijk dat er betere voorlichting en behandeling komt omdat het triest is dat zoveel mensen een hartaanval krijgen die makkelijk te voorkomen is.
Diabetes raises risk of heart attack complications
Diabetics are almost 50 percent more likely to have heart failure than people who do not have diabetes, finds the National Diabetes Audit.
Between 2010 and 2011 almost 14,500 people with diabetes had a heart attack in England and Wales but only 9,800 heart attack cases were expected. Diabetics are also 25 percent more likely to suffer a stroke, the Audit found. The Audit shows the extent to which people with diabetes are dying earlier and developing more health problems than the rest of the population.
Diabetics have a 330 percent higher risk of some complications than people who do not suffer from the condition. Complications of diabetes cost the NHS 80 percent of the £10 billion it currently spends on diabetes.
The Audit analysed the care of nearly two million diabetics and shows the death rate among people with Type 1 diabetes was 135 percent higher than the national rate.
Dr Bob Young, consultant diabetologist and clinical lead for the National Diabetes Information Service, said the results show the “huge impact of diabetes on disability and premature death.” All health care sectors must “work together with people who have diabetes,” to improve treatment and outcomes, he said.
"Some districts will have appreciably lower diabetes related complications than others." Across Yorkshire, for example, there are wide variations and in some regions the figures are based on small samples. In Calderdale, diabetics are almost 85 percent more likely to have a heart attack than non-diabetics and the figure for Airedale and Bradford is 79 percent. "Improving treatment for diabetes should be a top priority for all clinical services," Dr Young said.
Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: “These figures show that the biggest problem with diabetes is its devastating effect on the heart and circulation. It’s essential that, firstly, everyone with diabetes is identified and, secondly, they receive appropriate treatment and advice to help them avoid cardiovascular complications. Still more important is the need to prevent diabetes from occurring in the first place by tackling the increasing levels of obesity in our society, particularly in our children."
Barbara Young, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK (pictured), said the NHS must now focus on improving prevention by better education and screening of people who have diabetes. Doing so will not only reduce the death rate and complications of diabetes but will also significantly lower the cost of treating poorly managed diabetes.
"We want everyone with diabetes to get their cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose checked once a year and for this to be the start of a process of supporting the person to achieve healthy levels of these. Unless this happens, people with diabetes will continue to be at much greater risk of heart attacks."
"It is a tragedy that a large proportion of these thousands of extra heart attacks could have been prevented simply through better education, treatment and care. We hope this report spurs the NHS into action to improve the current situation where fewer than half of people with diabetes meet the recommended cholesterol levels and a significant minority are not even having it measured."
The report details how people with diabetes are at greatly increased risk of complications such as amputation, stroke, kidney failure and blindness.
Young said: "As well as the devastating effect these have on people’s quality of life, diabetes is causing too many people to die as a result of these complications of stroke, heart disease and kidney disease. Giving priority to tackling diabetes is a must for the Government and NHS if it is to make any significant impact on reducing the number of people dying early in the UK." (December 2012)
Reacties: