HEART ATTACK: CHECK FOR DIABETES

1221 -- 9/3/02

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

A study from Sweden shows that many people discover that they are diabetic only after they have had a heart attack.

Researchers recorded blood sugar levels in men who had had heart attacks and then did sugar tolerance tests at discharge and three months later. They found that 35 percent had diabetic sugar tolerance tests at hospital discharge and 40 percent had impaired sugar tolerance tests three months later.

Therefore, 40 percent of people who have heart attacks are diabetic, even though they may not know it. Many of the diabetics had normal HBA1C blood tests, the standard test to measure diabetic control. Furthermore, the patients who were unknown diabetics had a much higher rate of sudden death from their heart attacks than those who were not diabetic. The authors recommend that all people with heart attacks be tested for diabetes.

Lancet 2002; 359: 2140-44. "Glucose metabolism in patients with acute myocardial infarction and no previous diagnosis of diabetes mellitus: a prospective study"