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Better prevention, treatment of heart disease best for diabetics, study says

A study of 3 million adults in Sweden found the incidence of cardiovascular disease has dropped significantly over the past few decades, with diabetics seeing the largest drop.

By Amy Wallace

April 25 (UPI) -- In a study of nearly 3 million adults in Sweden, researchers found the incidence of cardiovascular disease has dropped significantly over the past few decades, with diabetics seeing the largest drop.

The study by researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg showed that the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and deaths among individuals with diabetes in Sweden declined sharply from 1998 to 2014. The large study included 2.96 million individuals, 37,000 of which had type 1 diabetes and 460,000 had type 2 diabetes.

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Study participants with type 1 diabetes, who had an average age of 35, had a 40 percent reduction in the incident of cardiovascular disease during the study period, while the control group without diabetes saw a decrease of just 10 percent.

Adults with type 2 diabetes, who had an average age of 65, had a 50 percent drop in incidence of cardiovascular disease compared to 30 percent in the control group.

"This is a huge improvement and a testament to the improvements in diabetes and cardiovascular care throughout Sweden," Dr. Aidin Rawshani, a doctoral student in molecular and clinical medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, said in a press release.

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The study utilized data from the National Diabetes Register, the Cause of Death Register and the portion of the Patient Register that deals with inpatient care.

Participants were matched by age, gender and geographic area, and the deaths that were counted in the study were almost exclusively related to cardiovascular disease.

"One of the main findings of the study is that both deaths and the incidence of cardiovascular disease is decreasing in the population, both in matching control groups and among persons with type 1 and type 2 diabetes," Rawshani said. "One paradoxical finding is that individuals with type 2 diabetes have seen a smaller improvement over time regarding deaths compared to the controls, while persons with type 1 have made an equal improvement to the controls."

Researchers believe the decrease in cardiovascular disease may be in part due to the use of preventative cardiovascular medications, advances in revascularisation of atherosclerotic disease and improved use of tools for continual blood sugar monitoring.

The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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