Diabetes: Greater Stroke Risk in Women than Men

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Gang Hu, MD, MPH, PhD, FAHA Assistant professor & Director, Chronic Disease Epidemiology Lab Adjunct assistant professor, School of Public Health, LSU Health Sciences Center Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LouisianaGang Hu, MD, MPH, PhD, FAHA
Assistant professor & Director
Chronic Disease Epidemiology Lab
Adjunct assistant professor, School of Public Health
LSU Health Sciences Center
Pennington Biomedical Research Center,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Gang Hu:  Our study suggests a graded association between HbA1c and the risk of stroke among female patients with type 2 diabetes and poor control of blood sugar has a stronger effect in women older than 55 years.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Gang Hu:  Diabetes poses a substantially greater increase in the risk of stroke among women than among men.

MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Gang Hu: More aggressive blood sugar treatments and better control of other risk factor levels in women with diabetes are likely to substantially reduce stroke in this subgroup.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Gang Hu: More researches are needed to elucidate the mechanism of this sex difference.

Citation: 

Sex differences in the risk of stroke and HbA among diabetic patients

Wenhui Zhao, Peter T. Katzmarzyk, Ronald Horswell, Yujie Wang, Jolene Johnson, Gang Hu. Sex differences in the risk of stroke and HbA 1c among diabetic patients. Diabetologia, February 2014 DOI: 10.1007/s00125-014-3190-

Last Updated on February 27, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD