Doctors warn Hong Kong diabetics to keep a close eye on heart health
Study shows 36 per cent of hearth failure patients between 2005 and 2012 had diabetes
Doctors have urged people with diabetes to pay attention to the condition of their heart, after a recently published local study found that about 36 per cent of heart failure patients have diabetes, a higher figure compared to those with coronary heart disease.
The study by the University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine looked at 1,940 new cases of hospitalisation for heart failure between 2005 and 2012.
Specialist in cardiology Dr David Siu Chung-wah, who was part of the team that did the research and is a member of the Diabetes Concern Group, pointed out that at 36 per cent, the number of heart failure patients with diabetes was higher than heart failure patients with coronary heart disease – at 29.3 per cent.
He added that the findings corroborated similar studies both overseas and in Hong Kong.
A study conducted by HKU between 1998 and 2005 on 610 people showed that the rate of death for patients with a “diabetic heart”– adverse heart conditions related to diabetes – from heart attacks was 80 per cent higher than in patients with general heart disease, while the rate of death for sudden cardiac death was doubled.
Research from other countries also showed that the risk of diabetic patients dying from a “diabetic heart” is two times higher than those without diabetes, said Dr Lee Ka-kui, the convener of the Diabetes Concern Group.
