Study: Diabetes fuels heart failure risk

People with diabetes are up to 65% more likely to have heart failure, an analysis has found. The National Diabetes Audit looked at data on almost two million people and also found increased risk of other complications, and premature death. The charity Diabetes UK, said people were "dying before their time". Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said progress was being made, but there was "unacceptable variation in diabetes care". The audit, in its eighth year, covered about 85% of people in England with diabetes, and about 54% of those in Wales. The researchers compared the rates of a range of complications among people with diabetes with those seen in the same sized group in the general population. In 2010-11, 45,000 people with the condition had heart failure - where the heart does not pump blood as effectively as it should, when the expected number would have been 27,300. The most common reason for heart failure is that the muscle has been damaged, for example, after a heart attack. Heart attacks were 48% more likely - 14,500 people with diabetes suffered this complication in 2010-11 - when 9,800 of such cases would have been expected. And people with diabetes were also at a significantly increased risk of need an amputation of the foot or leg. All the complications studied are recognised as being linked to diabetes and therefore more likely to occur in people with the condition. But the researchers say better preventative care would reduce cases.