Diabetes After a Heart Attack

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Five-year risk of developing clinical diabetes after first myocardial infarction: the FINAMI study, by P. Pajunen and colleagues. Diabet Med 22:1334–1337, 2005.

What is the problem and what is known about it so far?

Type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to coronary heart disease (disease of the blood vessels supplying the heart). Cardiovascular disease (disease of the heart and blood vessels) is more common in people with diabetes, and they are more likely to have bad outcomes like heart attacks or strokes. This appears to also be true for people with pre-diabetes.

Why did the researchers do this particular study?

Researchers wanted to see how often people who did not have type 2 diabetes got it after having a heart attack. This could be an important piece of the medical puzzle that links diabetes and heart and blood vessel disease.

Who was studied?

The study included all people 35 to 64 years old who suffered a heart attack in four areas of Finland between 1998 and 2002. There were 2,632 people who suffered their first heart attack. For comparison, researchers also collected information on 7,774 people who never had a heart attack or diabetes.

How was the study done?

Researchers reviewed medical records to see how many people who suffered their first heart attack received diabetes medication within five years.

What did the researchers find?

People without diabetes were more than twice as likely to get diabetes within five years after their first heart attack than those who never had a heart attack.

What were the limitations of the study?

Researchers did not examine other factors known to make heart and blood vessel disease more likely, such as high levels of fats in the blood.

Also, diabetes was not diagnosed by blood test, but whether or not somebody took diabetes medications. Some cases of diabetes may have been missed.

What are the implications of the study?

People who have their first heart attack are often likely to develop diabetes within a few years. Focusing on factors linked to diabetes should be part of medical care following a heart attack.