Cardiovascular Journal of Africa: Vol 27 No 4 (July/August 2016)

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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 27, No 4, July/August 2016 AFRICA 261
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Diabetes is often overlooked after a myocardial infarction
At least 10% of people who have a myocardial infarction (MI)
may also have undiagnosed diabetes. Yet many doctors fail to
look for diabetes in these patients, a recent study has found.
Dr Suzanne Arnold, assistant professor at Saint Luke’s
Mid-America Heart Institute and the University of Missouri
in Kansas City, and her team studied data from 2 854 patients
who experienced an MI and had never been diagnosed with
type 2 diabetes. The study tested the patients’ HbA1c levels.
It revealed that doctors often failed to recognise and begin
treating diabetes in patients who have experienced MIs with
no prior history of diabetes, even when the patient tested
positive for diabetes. The researchers found that 287 or
10.1% of the patients who experienced MIs tested positive
for diabetes. Out of the 287 patients who tested positive for
diabetes, less than one-third received education or medication
when discharged from hospital.
According to the results, doctors failed to recognise
diabetes in 198 or 69% of the previously undiagnosed
patients. The researchers noted that when a patient’s HbA1c
test results were checked while they were being treated for
their MI, there was a 17-fold greater chance that the diabetes
would be diagnosed.
In a press release, Dr Arnold stated, ‘Diagnosing diabetes
in patients who have had a heart attack is important because
of the role diabetes plays in heart disease. By recognising and
treating diabetes early, we may be able to prevent additional
cardiovascular complications through diet, weight loss and
lifestyle changes, in addition to taking medications. Another
important reason to diagnose diabetes at the time of heart
attack is that it can guide the treatments for the patient’s
coronary artery disease.’
According to Dr Arnold and her team, two in three
patients with diabetes die from heart-related conditions.
Patients with diabetes experience a significantly higher risk
for MI. The authors concluded that people who have an MI
should ask for a diabetes test if they present with other risk
factors such as being overweight, having high blood pressure
or a family history of diabetes.
This study was presented on 3 June at the American
Heart Association’s Quality of Care and Outcomes Research
Scientific Sessions 2014.
Reference
1.
diabetes-often-times-overlooked-after-heart-attack.