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Back to Cardiology Articles
Saturday 1st January, 2005
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The UCLA study is the first to identify a high mortality rate for advanced
heart failure patients who use insulin to manage diabetes.
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UCLA researchers for the first time showed that advanced
heart failure patients with diabetes who are treated with
insulin faced a mortality rate four times higher than heart
failure patients with diabetes treated with oral medications.
The new study may help raise awareness among physicians and
patients of this previously unknown relationship between insulin
use and increased mortality in advanced heart failure patients.
More research is needed to explore the mechanisms of how insulin
use may be contributing to the higher mortality rate.
The research appears in the January issue of the peer
reviewed American Heart Journal.
Previous studies have shown a connection between type 2
diabetes, heart failure and insulin. The UCLA study is the first
to identify a high mortality rate for advanced heart failure
patients who use insulin to manage diabetes. "Further studies
into what is the best strategy to control blood sugar levels in
patients with diabetes and heart failure are urgently needed,"
said Fonarow. Dr. Gregg Fonarow, senior study author; professor
of cardiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; and
director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center.
Researchers assessed the history of diabetes and insulin
treatment in 554 patients with advanced heart failure after
adjusting for various risk factors. One year survival rates were
89.7 percent for non-diabetic patients, 85.8 percent for
non-insulin-treated diabetic patients, and only 62.1 percent for
insulin-treated diabetic patients.
Heart failure affects 5 million in the United States and is
the most common cause of hospitalization for those 65 years and
older. Between 25 to 44 percent of heart failure patients also
have diabetes.
The study is funded by the Ahmanson Foundation and was
conducted at UCLA. Fonarow is a research consultant and speaker
for GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer and Merck.
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| Article reviewed by: |
Dr. Tamer Fouad, M.D.
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