In patients with type 2 diabetes, the duration of diabetes may be associated with an increased risk of incident heart failure (HF), according to a study published July 26 in JACC: Heart Failure.

Justin B. Echouffo-Tcheugui, MD, PhD, et al., used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study – which assessed blood glucose and clinical diagnoses of diabetes every 3 years – and evaluated the association of diabetes duration with incident HF in 9,734 participants. The study specifically looked at Visit 4, which took place from 1996 to 1998. Researchers excluded participants with a history of HF or coronary heart disease.

After 22.5 years, the researchers identified 1,968 HF events. The results showed that the risk of HF increased for patients with longer diabetes duration, particularly those with a duration of 15 years or greater. For every 5-year increase in diabetes duration, the patient's relative HF risk increased by 17%. The association between HF and diabetes duration was most prominent in participants <65 years old, those with a 7% or greater Hemoglobin A1C, patients with a body mass index of 30 kg/m or more, women and Black patients.

"Our findings show that a longer duration of diabetes is associated with greater risk of HF at different levels of blood glucose control, and independent of age, coronary heart disease, and other coexisting risk factors. Our findings have implications for public health and clinical practice, as these suggest that delaying the onset of diabetes, and targeting those with extended duration of diabetes for the administration of cardioprotective therapies, has the potential to yield benefits in terms of HF prevention," the authors conclude.

View the full lineup from the JACC: Heart Failure special issue on heart failure and diabetes.

Clinical Topics: Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies, Acute Heart Failure

Keywords: Hemoglobin A, Blood Glucose, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Body Mass Index, African Americans, Heart Failure, Risk Factors, Coronary Disease, Atherosclerosis

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