Diabetes in family does not increase risk of CVD

A family history of diabetes appears to be unrelated to the risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), reports a recent study. Parental myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke, however, may be linked to CVD onset.

Researchers retrieved data from four prospective German cohorts: The EPIC-Postdam (n=26,054), CARLA (n=1,079), SHIP (n=3,974), and KORA (n=15,777) studies. Multivariable-adjusted Cox regression analyses were performed to determine correlations between familial history and CVD risk. A meta-analysis was performed to obtain combined risk estimates.

Across all four cohorts, researchers found no clear link between diabetes history in any first-degree relative and the risk of CVD (combined hazard ratio [HR], 1.04, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.90–1.21).

Both maternal (combined HR, 1.05, 95 percent confidence interval CI, 0.93–1.18) and paternal (combined HR, 0.96, 95 percent CI, 0.81–1.14) histories did not Increase CVD risk, and neither did a general parental history of diabetes (combined HR, 0.99, 95 percent CI, 0.88–1.10). The same was true for a sibling history of diabetes (combined HR, 1.25, 95 percent CI, 0.97–1.61).

Disaggregating CVD into its components of MI and stroke did not meaningfully change the principal results in general. However, there was a significant signal detected between sibling history and MI (combined HR, 1.39, 95 percent CI, 1.04–1.86), but this was driven mostly but just one cohort.

In contrast, a familial history of MI or stroke seemed to increase the risk of CVD, according to the findings of all cohorts except CARLA.