Stroke risk 3 times higher after 10 years of diabetes

A study in New York shows that patients living with type 2 diabetes for 10 years were three times more likely to have a stroke than those without diabetes.
The study was carried out by Columbia University and followed over 3,000 patients which had not previously had a stroke. Amongst these, about 20 per cent had diabetes at the start of the study and another 10 per cent developed diabetes over the 9 years the study ran for. The researchers found that for each additional year that patients had diabetes, the risk of stroke rose by 3 per cent.
Stroke is caused by blockages of blood vessels in the brain or a haemorrhage in which a weak blood vessels bursts in the brain. Stroke is the third biggest killer in the UK after heart disease and cancer.
It’s important to note that the increased risk shown in the study is based on statistics and people with well managed diabetes should not get overly worried by the findings. Uncontrolled diabetes and unmanaged health over a period of years, however, is likely to lead to problems such as heart disease and stroke, which is why maintaining good blood glucose levels and good health is needed.