Duration of Diabetes Increases Stroke Risk

For each year a patient has diabetes, the risk of ischemic stroke increases by 3%, a new study found. 

Participants who had diabetes for 10 or more years showed a 3-fold increase in stroke risk compared with those without diabetes, reported Mitchell Elkind, MD, of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues. 

Elkind examined data from 3,298 participants, mean age 69, without history of stroke.  Of the participants, 22% had diabetes at baseline, while another 10% developed the condition over the course of the 10-year study.

Researchers recorded 244 strokes during the study. Both baseline diabetes and diabetes developed over time were similarly associated with stroke risk and duration of diabetes was associated with an increase in stroke risk.

"It is thus important to better understand the dynamics between diabetes, time, and stroke, and to emphasize the importance of interventions to prevent early diabetes," researchers wrote. "Minimizing the number of years a patient has diabetes would help combat the increase in stroke risk with each year of the disease."

-Michael Potts