Hypoglycemia and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality in Insulin-Treated People With Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: A Cohort Study

This UK database study (n=265,868) found that hypoglycaemia is associated with an increased risk of CV events and all-cause mortality in insulin-treated patients (aged > 30 yrs) with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and that this relationship exists over a long period.

These results confirm the findings of the ACCORD study in type 2 diabetes and add to the evidence for a link between hypoglycaemia and CV events in people with type 1 diabetes.

Whilst the current analysis cannot confirm a causal link between hypoglycaemia and CV risk, it highlights the importance of CV risk in patients who experienced hypoglycaemia by showing that hypoglycaemia is associated with very early CV events and mortality.

Based on these findings and previous research, the authors recommend that “special attention should be paid to insulin-treated patients who experience a hypoglycaemic event, especially those who are at elevated risk for CV events and an effort should be made to reduce the incidence of future hypoglycaemic events.”