Heart scan can detect diabetics at risk of heart disease
By Suzanne Rostler
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A quick, non-invasive scan of the arteries might help doctors to detect and treat early signs of heart disease in people with type 1 diabetes, researchers report.
The scan, electron beam computed tomography (EBT), is currently used to look for deposits of calcium in the arteries leading to the heart, an early sign of heart disease. According to study findings published in the September issue of Diabetes, the amount of calcification detected by EBT appears to correlate with heart disease risk in type 1 diabetics. People with type 1 diabetes do not produce enough insulin, a hormone that helps glucose (sugar) from food enter the cells to be used for energy.
``Many people who get diabetes-related heart disease are not accounted for by blood pressure or cholesterol readings,'' Dr. Trevor Orchard, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health, referring to current methods of screening for heart disease.
``There is something else going on,'' Orchard said.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death among patients with type 1 diabetes. These people tend to develop heart disease at more than five times the rate of otherwise healthy individuals.
While the report suggests that EBT might be able to identify people not picked up by current screening, it is too soon to recommend EBT as a regular test for heart disease in diabetic patients, Orchard stressed.
The investigators used EBT on more than 300 adults with type 1 diabetes. The scan detected heart disease in 84% of men and 71% of women who did indeed have the condition according to other, more invasive tests. Orchard explained that men tend to get more calcium in their arteries than women.
``Finding a way to identify high-risk subjects early is critical in preventing the high mortality and suffering that many type 1 diabetic patients endure from heart disease,'' Orchard said in a statement.
SOURCE: Diabetes 2000;40. |
