Women with type 2 diabetes and CVD less likely to reach treatment targets than men - study

 

 According to an international study involving almost 10,000 patients with type 2 diabetes, being presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), held online this year (27 Sept-1 Oct), women with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD), or at high risk of developing CVD, are less likely to reach recommended treatment targets than men.

 Nevertheless, women were less likely to experience adverse CVD outcomes apart from a stroke.

The authors notified that a better understanding of gender disparities is needed to improve the implementation of recommended care for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women with type 2 diabetes.

Despite evidence of the benefits for managing cardiovascular risk factors (such as lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels) in people with type 2 diabetes, an unacceptable proportion of affected women are not reaching recommended treatment targets. Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of women, but it has never been more preventable and treatable. The reasons why women are not receiving the same standard of treatment as men are complex and require further investigation so that women with type 2 diabetes can be treated more effectively."

Giulia Ferrannini, MD, from Karolinska Institutet is the study Lead Author.

According to Dr Ferrannini, "Even in a trial like REWIND where most people were adequately treated for their cardiovascular risk factors, women with type 2 diabetes were less likely to reach recommended treatment targets than men and were prescribed fewer cardioprotective drugs. Despite this, women remain at an advantage, having a lower risk for future cardiovascular events compared to their male counterparts, except for stroke; this is possibly due to gender differences in the pathophysiology of disease. However, it is important to consider all gender disparities that exist in the real-world setting that prevent women with diabetes to keep such advantage, including time to diagnosis, use of invasive revascularization procedures, and use of guideline-recommended treatments. Women with type 2 diabetes are at high cardiovascular risk and should not be neglected in its comprehensive management."

CVD is the main cause of illness, poor quality of life, and death in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Previous studies have suggested that type 2 diabetes is associated with a higher risk of fatal coronary heart disease, stroke, and death in women than men.

They analyzed data from 9,901 adults (46%, 4,589 women; average age 66 years) taking part in the REWIND trial-; a multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 24 countries involving adults with type 2 diabetes with a wide range of cardiovascular risk-; and followed for an average of 5.4 years. Significantly fewer women than men had a history of CVD (20% vs 41%).