Stroke Risk Differs Between Men and Women with Diabetes

Poor control over blood sugar levels in women with type 2 diabetes has a strong effect on their risk of stroke—an effect not shared by men with type 2 diabetes.

To further investigate the relationship between type 2 diabetes, stroke risk, and the role of gender in that association, researchers from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA, studied results from the Louisiana State University Hospital-Based Longitudinal Study.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Prehypertension Associated With Stroke Risk
Heart Disease Among Women Still Under-Recognized
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The study included 10,878 men and 19,278 women with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, who had not had a stroke or coronary heart disease at baseline.

Within the average follow-up of 6.7 years, 2949 participants had a stroke, with higher rates of stroke among men. Despite the higher rates, glycemic control played a much more significant role in the risk of stroke in women than men.

Women with an HbA1c of 8% or higher at baseline had significantly greater risk of stroke than those with HbA1c of 6% to 6.9%.   

For every 1% of increase in HbA1c at baseline in women, researchers found a 5% increase in the risk of stroke during follow-up. 

The effect was also found to be greater in women over the age of 55. 

“This [graded association between HbA1c and the risk of stroke] is important to keep in mind when studying blood sugar level and other CVD risk factors in the diabetic population and when planning a strategy to prevent CVD, especially for women with type 2 diabetes,” researchers concluded.

–Michael Potts

Reference

Zhao W, Hu G, Katzmarzyk PT, Horswell R et al. Sex differences in the risk of stroke and HbA1c among diabetic patients. 2014 Diabetologia. DOI: 10.1007/s00125-014-3190-3.