Diabetic women 40 pc likelier to suffer from heart attack than diabetic men

A new study of approximately 11 million patients shows that diabetic women are around 40 percent more likely to suffer from heart attack than diabetic men.

In the study, the authors undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the relative risk for acute coronary syndrome associated with diabetes in men and women.

A total of 9 case-control and 10 cohort studies were included, with data for 10,856,279 individuals and at least 106703 fatal and non-fatal acute coronary syndrome events.

The pooled maximum-adjusted relative risk of acute coronary syndrome associated with diabetes was 2.46 in women and 1.68 in men. In patients with diabetes, women therefore had a significantly greater risk of acute coronary syndrome, with a 38 percent increased risk for women.

According to author Xue Dong of the ZhongDa Hospital of Southeast University, women with diabetes had a roughly 40 percent greater excess risk of acute coronary syndrome, compared with men with diabetes.

They said that people should take all necessary steps to diagnose diabetes early, and control risk factors comprehensively to guarantee the most suitable treatments and best possible outcomes in female patients.