Diabetes Increases Risk of Heart Failure

One of the largest analysis carried into the effects of diabetes in Britain found that people with the disease were up to 65 percent more likely to suffer a heart failure compared to the general population. The National Diabetes Audit, carried by the NHS in partnership with Diabetes UK and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, looked into the diabetes treatment provided to more than 2 million people in England and Wales and also found that they were 48 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack, 210 percent more likely to undergo leg amputation above or below the knee, 332 percent more likely to require a part of the foot removed and 144 percent more likely to require a kidney transplant or dialysis.

National Diabetes Information Service’s Dr Bob Young said that there is a scope of improvement which can be achieved by meeting NICE’s recommendations. “If everyone achieved the treatment targets that are laid down by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), none of the complications would be inevitable. There is substantial scope for improvement”, he said.

Source-Medindia