Heart risk from diabetes ‘differs by ethnicity’

Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease to different degrees in various ethnic groups, a new study has suggested.

Investigators on the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) has claimed every ethnic group – including white, black, Hispanic and Chinese ? seems to have a set of abnormalities related to diabetes.

“People with diabetes are recognised as having an increased risk of heart failure,” said lead researcher Dr Alain Bertoni of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in the US.

“We sought to better understand why. We were especially interested in the role atherosclerosis may play.”

The team looked at the muscle mass of the left ventricle, comparing people with diabetes or impaired fasting glucose to those with normal sugar levels.

“Increased left ventricular muscle mass suggests the future possibility of developing heart failure,” explained Dr Bertoni. “We also think that if you have a stiffer heart, that could be an early indication that you have a propensity for developing heart failure.”

Results showed that in whites, blacks and Hispanics, there was an increase in muscle mass with diabetes. While this was explained by atherosclerosis and high blood pressure in the white group, no such explanation was found for blacks and Hispanics.

Chinese participants with diabetes did not experience any difference in mass.

Dr Bertoni stressed that none of the participants actually had heart failure.

“Further investigation will be required to determine whether there are differences in the incidence of heart failure by ethnicity in this [group], and if so, whether the observed differences at baseline will be predictive of the future risk of heart failure,” the researchers said in the journal Diabetes Care.

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