Duration of Diabetes Raises Stroke Risk

Whereas previous studies have reported that diabetes increases stroke risk, Mitchell Elkind, from Columbia University (New York, USA), and colleagues have completed analyses that suggest a predicative value of diabetes status in the risk of stroke.  The researchers examined data collected on 3,298 men and women, average age 69 years, enrolled in the Northern Manhattan Study.  About one-fifth (22%) had diabetes at baseline and another 10% reported new-onset diabetes during an average follow-up of nine years. There were 244 ischemic strokes recorded during the study. After adjustment for demographics and cardiovascular risk factors, ischemic stroke was predicted by the presence of baseline diabetes, and diabetes as a time-dependent variable which takes into account the development of diabetes during follow-up. Writing that: “Duration of diabetes is independently associated with ischemic stroke risk adjusting for risk factors,” the study authors report that: “The risk increases 3% each year, and triples with diabetes[over] 10 years.”