In a new study, researchers found diabetes can independently cause heart failure.
The research was conducted by a team at Mayo Clinic.
Heart problems are a common development for people with diabetes.
In fact, about 33% of people in the U.S. admitted to the hospital for heart failure also have diabetes.
Heart failure may be the result of a co-condition, such as hypertension or coronary heart disease, but not always.
In the study, the team examined the idea of diabetic cardiomyopathy and heart failure from the effects of diabetes alone.
Utilizing the Rochester Epidemiology Project, the researchers checked the long-term impact of diabetes on the development of heart failure.
They also looked at mortality in a community population, controlling for high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and diastolic function.
From an initial group of 2,042 residents of Olmsted County, 116 study participants with diabetes and 232 participants without diabetes were included.
Over the 10-year follow-up period, 21% of participants with diabetes developed heart failure, independent of other causes.
In comparison, only 12% of patients without diabetes developed heart failure.
Cardiac death, heart attack, and stroke were not statistically different in the study between the two groups.
The study shows that diabetes is an independent risk factor for the development of heart failure in the community-dwelling population.
Furthermore, the outcome data support the concept of diabetic cardiomyopathy.
The team says that even without a known cardiac structural abnormality and with a normal ejection fraction, diabetic patients are still at increased risk of developing heart failure.
They hope this study provides a strong foundation for further investigations into diabetes and heart failure.
There is still much to learn and study in terms of this association and how to best diagnose and treat this condition.
The lead author of the study is Horng Chen, M.D., a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
The study is published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
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