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Study: Can Science Lower Heart Disease Risk of Diabetes

A 70 clinic, 10,000 patient study will see what can be done to lower the risk of Heart Disease in patients with diabetes.

Doctors have long known Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Now, researchers in 70 clinics in the United States and Canada will test what they believe are three promising approaches to lowering the heart disease risk from Type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Hertzel Gerstein, a professor of medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, is the lead investigator for the 11 Canadian university, hospital and community-based diabetes clinics that will be participating.

"Type 2 diabetes accounts for a large proportion of all heart attacks, strokes, deaths and other health problems in Canada," Gerstein said.

"This large comprehensive study of 10,000 people, including 1,440 people in Canada alone, will clearly determine the role of intensive glucose, blood pressure and lipid control as a way to safely reduce these serious consequences."

The study will try to determine whether lowering blood sugars to a level closer to normal than called for in current diabetes guidelines reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The second arm will look at what impact lowering blood pressure has on blood sugar controls and therefore diabetes. Many people with Type 2 diabetes also have high blood pressure.

The third will look at whether improving blood fat levels has an impact on heart disease in diabetes. People with Type 2 diabetes often have high levels of bad cholesterol and low levels of good cholesterol.

"The . . . trial will tell us whether, through a combination of intensive treatment of not just blood sugar but also blood pressure and cholesterol levels, we can prevent the heart disease associated with diabetes."

The study will be funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - both part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

People with Type 2 diabetes die of cardiovascular diseases at rates two to four times higher than those who do not have diabetes and experience more non-fatal heart attacks and strokes.