Diabetes Often Missed in Heart Patients
29th Sep 2005, 18:58 GMT
People who suffer a heart attack, or have severe coronary heart disease, often also have diabetes. However, in these patients diabetes often goes unrecognized--and untreated. That is according to new research published in the American Journal of Cardiology. Researchers found that the majority of patients who present to emergency rooms with a heart attack, or heart-related chest pain, have impaired glucose metabolism. However, in most cases no testing is done to uncover the condition. Among 1,199 heart patients who were treated at two hospitals in Kansas City, Missouri, 57 percent had abnormal glucose levels. Of these, 27 percent had known diabetes. Among the remaining patients, 14 percent had new-onset diabetes, based on their fasting blood glucose level. However, two-thirds of those who met criteria for new diabetes were not diagnosed or treated as such by the physicians who managed them. Summary of the article available here. Read Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments