Comparison of cardiovascular risk factors in type II (non-insulin dependent) diabetics with and without coronary heart disease.

ABSTRACT

Cardiovascular risk factors in NIDDM were studied by comparing 175 subjects with coronary heart disease (CHD) to 173 subjects without CHD; both groups were matched with regard to male to female ratio, age at diagnosis of diabetes and body mass index. The risk factors included were hypertension, poor metabolic control, smoking and lipid abnormalities. Since the mean known duration of diabetes in subjects with CHD was longer compared to those without CHD (12.93 +/- 7.23 and 6.25 +/- 5.66) and sub sample of subjects from both groups with duration of diabetes with 15 years or less were also analysed for comparison. Even after adjustment of duration the clustering of vascular complication in the subjects with CHD was striking. Presence of low HDL cholesterol was significant in both men and women diabetics with CHD (p < 0.01); while hypertension and poor metabolic control showed a strong positive correlation to CHD in women (p < 0.01 & p < 0.05). Multiple logistic analysis carried out separately in men and women showed that both low HDL cholesterol and elevated serum triglycerides showed strong association to CHD in both sexes; while in women in addition hypertension and insulin therapy also had a positive correlation to CHD (p < 0.01). Furthermore the influence of known duration of diabetes was not observed to be a significant contributor to the cardiovascular risk factors, since the above mentioned risk factors remained statistically significant in the subsample of patients with duration of diabetes less than 15 years.