Diabetes Tougher on Women’s Hearts

Diabetes might be more deadly for women than men, at least when it comes to heart troubles, new research shows. Heart disease occurs an average of 15 years earlier in people with diabetes, and is their main cause of illness and death. In women, the connection between diabetes and heart disease is particularly strong.

Worldwide, more women die due to diabetes than men, 2.1 million versus 1.8 million a year, the researchers said.

Coronary heart disease is the most common and deadly type of heart disease in people with diabetes. Women with diabetes have a 1.8 times higher risk of death from coronary heart disease than women without diabetes. Men with diabetes have a 1.5 times higher risk of death from coronary heart disease than men without diabetes.

Peripheral artery disease — which can eventually lead to foot amputation — is the most common initial sign of heart disease in type 2 diabetes patients, and it is 1.8 times more common in women than men.