Cardiovascular outcomes in T2D poorer in women vs men

Women with type 2 diabetes (T2D) have it worse than men in terms of prevalent and incident major adverse cardiovascular outcomes, although this sex-related difference is absent among individuals with prediabetes, a study has found.

The study used data from adults with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), prediabetes, and T2D participating in the Catanzaro Metabolic Risk factors (CATAMERI) study and included 3,540 individuals for the cross-sectional analysis and 1,658 for the longitudinal analysis.

At baseline, women with prediabetes or diabetes had greater body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, total, low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, hs-CRP, and white blood cell count than men with prediabetes and diabetes when compared with their NGT counterparts.

Cardiovascular disease was more prevalent in women with T2D (relative risk [RR], 9.29, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 4.73–18.25; p<0.0001) than in men with T2D (RR, 4.56, 95 percent CI, 3.07–6.77; p<0.0001). This sex-related difference was absent in the prediabetes group.

Likewise, over 5.6 years of follow-up, major adverse cardiovascular outcomes occurred with greater frequency in women with T2D (RR, 5.25, 95 percent CI, 3.22–8.56; p<0.0001), but not those with prediabetes, than in their male peers (RR, 2.72, 95 percent CI, 1.81–4.08; p<0.0001).

The present data underscore the importance of early identification of glucose homeostasis abnormalities, especially in women, in order to prevent cardiovascular-related adverse events via lifestyle change intervention and pharmacological treatments.