What are ideal blood sugar levels for preventing repeat strokes, heart attacks?

Date:
September 29, 2021
Source:
American Academy of Neurology
Summary:
Blood sugar control has always been important for people with
diabetes when it comes to preventing a stroke. But a new study
finds for people with diabetes who have a stroke, there may be
an ideal target blood sugar range to lower the risk of different
types of vascular diseases like a stroke or heart attack later on.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Blood sugar control has always been important for people with diabetes
when it comes to preventing a stroke. But a new study finds for people
with diabetes who have a stroke, there may be an ideal target blood
sugar range to lower the risk of different types of vascular diseases
like a stroke or heart attack later on. The research is published in the September 29, 2021, online issue of Neurology(R), the medical journal
of the American Academy of Neurology.


==========================================================================
"We know that having diabetes may be associated with an increased risk
of having a first stroke," said study author Moon-Ku Han, MD, PhD,
of Seoul National University College of Medicine in Korea. "But our
results indicate that there is an optimal blood sugar level that may
start to minimize the risk of having another stroke, a heart attack
or other vascular problems, and it's right in the 6.8% to 7.0% range."
The study involved 18,567 people with diabetes with an average age of
70. All participants were admitted to the hospital for an ischemic stroke, which is caused by a blood clot. Upon admission, researchers used a test
called the hemoglobin A1C to determine people's average blood sugar level
over the past two to three months. This test measures a percentage of hemoglobin proteins in the blood coated with sugar. A level below 5.7%
is considered normal; 6.5% or higher generally indicates diabetes. The participants had an average A1C of 7.5%.

Researchers then followed up one year later to find out if there was an association between A1C levels with the risk of having another stroke,
a heart attack, or dying from these or other vascular causes.

Of all participants, 1,437, or about 8%, had a heart attack or died from vascular disease within a year of starting the study, and 954, or 5%,
had another stroke.

The study found that people admitted to the hospital with A1C levels
above the 6.8% to 7.0% range had an increased risk of having a vascular
event like a heart attack, as well as having another stroke.

After adjusting for factors like age and sex, researchers found that
people's risk for a heart attack or similar vascular diseases was 27%
greater when they were admitted to the hospital with A1C levels above
7.0%, compared to those admitted with A1C levels below 6.5%. People's
risk for having another stroke was 28% greater when admitted to the
hospital with A1C levels above 7.0%, compared to those below 6.5%.

"Our findings highlight the importance of keeping a close eye on your
blood sugar if you're diabetic and have had a stroke," Han said.

A limitation of the study is that people's blood sugar levels were
measured only at the start of the study; no follow-up levels were
available.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Academy_of_Neurology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jun Young Chang, Wook-Joo Kim, Jee Hyun Kwon, Ji Sung Lee, Beom
Joon Kim,
Joon-Tae Kim, Jun Lee, Jae Kwan Cha, Dae-Hyun Kim, Yong-Jin Cho,
Keun-Sik Hong, Soo Joo Lee, Jong-Moo Park, Byung-Chul Lee, Mi Sun
Oh, Sang-Hwa Lee, Chulho Kim, Dong-Eog Kim, Kyung Bok Lee, Tai
Hwan Park, Jay Chol Choi, Dong-Ick Shin, Sung-Il Sohn, Jeong-Ho
Hong, Hee-Joon Bae, Moon-Ku Han. Association of Prestroke Glycemic
Control With Vascular Events During 1-Year Follow-up. Neurology,
2021 DOI: 10.1212/ WNL.0000000000012729 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210929160134.htm

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