The relationship between diabetes and cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes has changed significantly in the last two decades, according to new data published in JAMA.[1] Improvements in patient care appear to be the primary driver of this particular trend.
“Between 1982 and 2000, people with diabetes had the same risk of cardiovascular events as those with prior cardiovascular disease (CVD),” wrote lead author Calvin Ke, MD, PhD, an assistant professor with the department of medicine at the University of Toronto, and colleagues. “Consequently, diabetes is considered a ‘cardiovascular risk equivalent.’ Because diabetes management practices have changed substantially, we examined secular trends in the association of diabetes and prior CVD with cardiovascular events from 1994 to 2019 to see whether the risk equivalence persists.”
