People with type 2 diabetes have a much higher chance—up to four times more—of developing serious heart problems like heart attacks, strokes, and angina compared to people without diabetes.
Because of this, it’s important to find better ways to identify who is most at risk, so doctors can take early action.
A new study from Lund University in Sweden may offer a helpful solution. Researchers followed 752 people who had recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. None of these people had any history of major heart problems when the study began. Over the next seven years, 102 of them developed serious heart-related complications.
The research, published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, focused on studying DNA methylation—tiny chemical changes that happen on a person’s DNA. These changes help control which genes are turned on or off in our cells. If the methylation process doesn’t work correctly, it can lead to diseases like heart problems.
By analyzing blood samples, the researchers found more than 400 spots on the DNA where the methylation patterns were different in people who later developed heart issues. From these, they selected 87 key markers to create a scoring system that could estimate a person’s future risk.
The results were promising. The scoring system could correctly identify with 96% accuracy whether someone was not likely to develop heart disease. While the ability to predict who definitely will get heart problems still needs improvement, the test already shows strong potential for ruling out low-risk individuals.
One of the researchers, Sonia García-Calzón from the University of Navarre in Spain, explained that more time is needed to strengthen the prediction for people who are likely to get heart disease. A longer follow-up period would likely improve the test’s ability to give positive predictions too.
The goal is to use this test to help people with type 2 diabetes get the support they need sooner. If someone is shown to be at high risk, they can receive advice and treatment to manage their diet, exercise more, lose weight if needed, and better control their blood sugar. They may also get medicines that protect the heart and blood vessels.
Currently, doctors use things like age, gender, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking habits, blood sugar levels, and kidney function to assess heart disease risk. But this approach isn’t very precise. According to Professor Charlotte Ling, who led the study, adding information from DNA methylation makes the prediction much more accurate.
The team hopes to turn this discovery into a simple blood test kit that doctors can use in clinics. With a quick test, it may soon be possible to find out who is at risk for heart disease—before any symptoms appear—and take steps to prevent it early.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about The hidden connection between cancer and diabetes uncovered and findings of Scientists find the best way to help people with diabetes lose weight.
For more about diabetes, please read studies about Widely prescribed drug may increase sudden cardiac arrest risk in people with diabetes and findings of These common drugs linked to sudden cardiac arrest in people with type 2 diabetes.
The study is published in Cell Reports Medicine.
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