Considerable disturbances of cardiovascular risk factors in women with diabetes and myocardial infarction

Abstract Objective To investigate to which extent differences in cardiovascular risk factors explain the increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and complication rate in women with diabetes mellitus (DM). Design Case-control study. Subjects We compared women with diabetes and previous MI ( n =29), diabetes but no MI ( n =46), prior MI but no diabetes ( n =64), and healthy controls ( n =125). Measurements Smoking habits, physical activity, blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI), waist/hip ratio (WHR), serum lipids, plasma fibrinogen, and serum sex hormones. Results Despite the fact that diabetic women had similar BMI, those with a past MI, compared to diabetic women without MI, had significantly higher WHR (mean, 95% CI) [0.89 (0.87, 0.92) vs. 0.84 (0.81, 0.86) mmol/l, P =.001] and very high S-triglycerides [3.03 (2.23, 3.83) vs. 1.69, (1.39, 1.99) mmol/l, P =.001] and low HDL-cholesterol [1.09 (0.94, 1.24) vs. 1.56 (1.41, 1.71) mmol/l, P Conclusions Women with diabetes who have manifested an MI carry a very substantial cardiovascular risk factor burden, which probably explain their increased morbidity and mortality. In order to improve prognosis, studies targeted at investigating treatment modalities for these abnormalities are needed.