The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7382 p4
7 January 2006

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CHD risk associated with diabetes higher in women

Research has revealed that women with diabetes are at higher risk of dying from coronary heart disease than men with diabetes.

Researchers examined 39 studies, involving over 447,000 patients. The overall relative risk for fatal CHD associated with diabetes was 3.50 in women, compared with 2.06 in men (95 per cent confidence interval 2.70–4.53 and 1.81–2.34, P<0.0001). Diabetes may induce a more adverse cardiovascular profile in women, the authors suggest, and this may combine with a reduced likelihood of women attaining recommended levels of other risk factors.

The study was published on BMJ Online First on 21 December 2005.