Top takeaways from the Heart in Diabetes conference

Endocrine Today has compiled a list of the top five news stories posted from the Heart in Diabetes conference, held July 14 to 16 in Philadelphia.

Healio.com/Endocrinology readers were interested in the cardiorenal syndrome, new developments in heart failure research, and much more.

Cardiorenal syndrome: A vicious cycle of diseases

PHILADELPHIA — Heart failure is a common complication of diabetes and runs hand in hand with renal dysfunction, leading to cardiorenal syndrome, according to a speaker here.

“Studies have shown that the rate of heart failure is increased in people with diabetes,” Jeffrey M. Testani, MD, MTR, director of heart failure research, section of cardiovascular medicine at Yale University, said at the Heart in Diabetes Clinical Education Conference. “Once you have heart failure, the presence of diabetes is a significant risk factor for death, inflammation, fibrosis, hypertrophy, advanced glycation end-products and more.” Read more.

New developments in heart failure research to improve outcomes in diabetes, cardiometabolic conditions

PHILADELPHIA — New data from the several large cardiovascular outcomes trials, combined with an evolving understanding of the etiology of heart failure, are forcing clinicians and researchers to change the way they typically work with patients and each other, according to an organizer behind the first Heart in Diabetes conference.

Mikhail Kosiborod, MD, FACC, FAHA, professor of medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a conference co-chair, spoke with Endocrine Today about the importance of sharing research across specialties to improve CV outcomes in diabetes, the latest developments in diabetes-related heart failure research and the latest trials that could potentially change the landscape of heart failure treatment. Read more.

Angioplasty, bypass surgery options for patients with diabetes, CAD

PHILADELPHIA — For patients with diabetes and multivessel coronary artery disease, coronary artery bypass grafting shows higher procedural benefit compared with percutaneous coronary intervention, according to a presentation at the Heart in Diabetes Medical Conference.

However, the latest generation of stents may be closing the gap, Michael E. Farkouh, MD, MSc, clinical epidemiologist at Mount Sinai New York and Peter Munk Chair in Multinational Clinical Trials at the Peter Munk Cardiac Center in Toronto, said. Read more.

Glycemic control key factor in reducing CV risk

PHILADELPHIA — Solid evidence exists that improved glycemic control reduces microvascular complications in people with diabetes, according to a speaker at the Heart in Diabetes Conference.

Drugs used in patients with diabetes to improve glycemic control may have independent effects on numerous pathways related or unrelated to cardiovascular risk in diabetes, and studies have shown that glycemic control also extends to benefit CV outcomes, George L. Bakris, MD, FASN, FASH, professor of medicine and director of the American Society for Hypertension Comprehensive Hypertension Center, University of Chicago Medicine, said during a keynote presentation. Read more.

Insulin resistance underlies CV risk factors

PHILADELPHIA — Insulin resistance is a major factor by which patients with diabetes are at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease, according to a speaker at the Heart in Diabetes Conference.

As much as 80% of mortality in patients with diabetes is accounted for by macrovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, stroke and peripheral vascular disease, Ralph A. DeFronzo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the diabetes division at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, said. This begs the question of the role of hyperglycemia in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, he said. Read more.