People with type 2 diabetes often face an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. But a new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden reveals that this risk does not stay the same over time—it gets worse the longer someone lives with the disease.
The study, published in the journal Diabetes, suggests that red blood cells may be part of the reason why.
Red blood cells are mainly known for carrying oxygen throughout the body. But researchers have found that in people with type 2 diabetes, these cells can also affect how blood vessels work. Over time, as diabetes continues, red blood cells may start to harm the blood vessels they travel through.
To learn more, scientists studied both animals and human patients. They discovered that red blood cells from mice and from people who had lived with diabetes for many years were able to damage blood vessels.
This damage was not seen in red blood cells from people who had just recently been diagnosed with diabetes. However, when researchers followed up with those newly diagnosed patients seven years later, they found that their red blood cells had also become harmful over time.
The study highlights the importance of how long a person has had diabetes—not just whether they have the condition at all. As Dr. Zhichao Zhou, the lead author of the study, explained: “It is only after several years that red blood cells develop a harmful effect on blood vessels.”
The researchers also made an important discovery about a small molecule called microRNA-210. This molecule is found in red blood cells and appears to play a key role in keeping blood vessels healthy.
In patients who had lived with diabetes for a long time, levels of microRNA-210 were much lower. But when scientists restored the levels of this molecule in the red blood cells, the function of the blood vessels improved.
This means microRNA-210 might be used in the future as a warning sign—or biomarker—to help detect which diabetes patients are at risk for heart problems before any serious damage occurs.
As Eftychia Kontidou, a doctoral student and co-author of the study, put it: “If we can identify which patients are at greatest risk before vascular damage has already occurred, we can also become better at preventing complications.”
The researchers are now working on larger studies to see if microRNA-210 can be used in everyday healthcare to predict heart risk in diabetes patients. If successful, this could help doctors act earlier to protect the heart and blood vessels of people living with type 2 diabetes.
This study adds to our understanding of why the risk of heart disease gets worse the longer someone has diabetes. It also offers hope that by looking more closely at red blood cells—and the tiny molecules inside them—we may one day be able to spot heart problems early and stop them before they start.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about Vitamin D and type 2 diabetes, and to people with diabetes, some fruits are better than others.
For more health information, please see recent studies that low calorie diets may help reverse diabetes, and 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes.
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