Diabetic Women more Prone to Heart Disease: Study

Patients dealing with diabetes may also be at an increased risk for other health issues, including coronary heart disease (CHD). The findings of a recent study show that for women in particular, diabetes can increase the risk of developing CHD.

"Taken together, these data provide convincing evidence that diabetes poses a greater relative risk for cardiovascular diseases in women than in men," the authors wrote according to a press release.

For the study, researchers examined data collected between 1966 and 2011, which included 64 studies, 858,507 people and 28,203 CHD events. They found that women with diabetes were up to three times more likely to develop CHD than those without the health issue, despite certain factors, including age. However, men with diabetes were only two times more likely to develop heart issues than those without the disorder.

Women with diabetic conditions also had a 44 percent higher risk of CHD than men with diabetes, which supports a smaller-scale study that highlights women with diabetes who have a 46 percent higher risk of dying of CHD than men with diabetes.

Researchers believe that the under treatment of women may be a partial reason for the problem, highlighting how more women are dying of heart health issues based on the results of a 2013 study.

"We should be horrified that we, as women, don't get the same treatment as men when we come in with a heart attack," said Martha Gulati, co-author of the study, via Forbes. "We should be horrified that we don't get the same life-saving therapies."

Researchers stress the importance of highlighting the differences between genders regarding the manifestation of the disease and other health issues.

"The days of lumping men and women together are coming to an end," said Dr. Tara Narula, associate director of the Cardiac Care Unit at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "We need to see women as unique entities regarding their risk factors and, if we recognize there's this gender differential, we need to be more aggressive in screening and treating women for diabetes or heart disease."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Diabetologia.