Role of obesity and hypertension in the incidence of atrial fibrillation, ischaemic heart disease and heart failure in patients with diabetes

• Published in: Cardiovascular diabetology Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 1 - 162
• Main Authors: Sala, Lucia La, Pontiroli, Antonio E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 04.08.2021; BMC
• Subjects: Atrial fibrillation; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Body weight loss; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Congestive heart failure; Coronary artery disease; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Fibrillation; Gastrointestinal surgery; Glucose; Heart failure; Hypertension; Ischaemic heart disease; Ischemia; Obesity; Patients; Risk factors; Weight control
• ISSN: 1475-2840; 1475-2840
• DOI: 10.1186/s12933-021-01331-5

Abstract In a cohort study performed using primary care databases in a General Practitioners Network, Groenewegen et al. report a clear association between diabetes and incidence of the major chronic progressive heart diseases, notably heart failure (Groenewegen et al. in Cardiovasc Diabetol 20:123, 2021). However, no mention is made of body mass index and hypertension in the methods or in the results. Obesity is linked to hypertension and hypertension is a major risk factor for all cardiovascular diseases, and prospective studies have shown that obesity and hypertension contribute significantly to atrial fibrillation in persons with diabetes. The data would be improved by assessing the role of obesity and of hypertension in the incidence of heart diseases in these patients. This would also lead to a better and personalized treatment of patients with diabetes, for instance through weight loss and intensification of treatment of hypertension, to modify the incidence of atrial fibrillation, ischaemic heart disease and heart failure.