Diabetes may cause abnormal heart rhythms in women, study says

Are diabetes and atrial fibrillation linked in women? A new report in the October issue of Diabetes Care says women with diabetes may be 26% more likely than other women to develop a heart rhythm problem, according to a WebMed article. The study examined 34,000 adults who received health care through Kaiser Permanente Northwest, including 17,000 diabetes patients. Regardless of factors including age, height, weight, blood pressure and previous history of heart disease, high cholesterol and hemoglobin A1c (shows blood sugar control in recent months), women with diabetes were 26% more likely than other women to develop atrial fibrillation. For men, it was interesting that atrial fibrillation was more common in men with diabetes than in men without diabetes, but that gap disappeared when the researchers controlled for other risk factors. Why the gender gap occurs is not clear from the results of the study, but the researchers from Kaiser Permanente plan additional research to explore why women are more affected than men.