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(HealthDay News) — Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a long-term complication of type 1 diabetes, and more attention toward management of its associated risk factors and modifiers is urged in a scientific statement published in Diabetes Care.
Sarah D. de Ferranti, MD, MPH, from the Boston Children’s Heart Foundation, and colleagues reviewed the evidence relating to CVD in type 1 diabetes, focusing on the importance of CVD, treatment of CVD risk factorsand identifying knowledge gaps.
The researchers noted that CVD is a long-term complication of type 1 diabetes; CVD events are more common and occur earlier than in patients without diabetes. CVD also presents at a younger age in type 1 diabetes than in type 2 diabetes, and also affects women at rates equal to those seen in men.
Atherosclerosis is more diffuse and concentric in type 1 diabetes, and additional studies are needed to further understand atherosclerosis in type 1 diabetes, the researchers wrote.
CVD risk factors and modifiers in type 1 diabetes include age, disease duration, as well as hyperglycemia, diabetic kidney disease, dyslipidemia, hypertension, prehypertension and unhealthy behaviors. These risk factors should be addressed for CVD risk management.
There are currently no CVD risk-prediction algorithms in widespread use for patients with type 1 diabetes. Additionally, the use of novel processes and novel biomarkers on the accuracy of risk prediction is unclear in the type 1 diabetes population.
“Much work remains to be done to improve our understanding of [type 1 diabetes] and to help ameliorate the CVD effects of this important disease,” the researchers wrote.
Several authors and reviewers disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
