One out of Three Stroke Survivors Has Pre-Diabetes

New Information released at the American Heart Association International Conference showed that one out of three stroke survivors in the United States has undiagnosed pre-diabetes. “Black stroke survivors are more than twice as likely as whites to have undiagnosed pre-diabetes or diabetes mellitus, while Hispanics have an intermediate risk, Dr. Amytis Towfighi said at the International Stroke Conference sponsored by the American Heart Association.”[1]

The research was based on 1,070 adult stroke survivors, included in the National Health and Nutrition examination survey representing the full U.S. population. The findings stressed that only 2.5% of the stroke survivors had physician diagnosed pre-diabetes.

In the reported findings black stroke survivors were significantly younger with an average age of 59 years of age compared to a mean of 70 in whites and 67 in Hispanics. Blacks were also more likely to be smokers with a history of hypertension and on medication.

The researchers felt that unrecognized pre-diabetes or diabetes may amplify an individual’s risk of recurrent stroke. If left untreated, pre-diabetes will progress to diabetes. Therefore it makes sense to screen patients for as a means of improving clinical outcomes and reducing the number of patients experiencing stroke.

Health care providers and patients should partner in preventative health care to assure that they are doing everything to avoid having a stroke. Patients can use diet, exercise, and stop smoking to lower the risk of stroke. Clinicians can check BMI, blood cholesterol levels and monitor patients A (1) c readings to help patients avoid pre-diabetes or developing diabetes.  Lowering intake of meat, and dairy products and increasing the amount of vegetables in your diet can also help to lower risk factors.