Prediabetes and Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy
Prediabetes is a
condition where an individual has abnormally high
blood glucose, while not high enough to be diagnosed
as diabetes. Prediabetes can cause heart and kidney
problems. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) may be
defined as “the
impairment of autonomic control of the
cardiovascular system.” While the condition is
frequently not given much focus, CAN is frequently
associated with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. CAN may
also be associated with heart problems and
mortality. Further, at least one recent study
has concluded that CAN is also associated with
prediabetes.
The investigators involved in the study did a
search, electronically, to find individuals, in
other studies, with prediabetes, normal glucose and
type 2 diabetes. The researchers searched the
following databases: Medline, MBASE, Pubmed, Web of
science, Scopus and Cochrane.
As a result of the database search, the researchers
found 4431 participants who satisfied the analysis’
inclusion criteria. The participants included 1730
individuals with prediabetes. There were 1999
individuals who had normal glucose. And there were
702 individuals with type 2 diabetes. And there was
a higher than normal number of individuals
experiencing CAN.
Further, the researcher concluded that “There [was]
a higher than expected prevalence of CAN in
prediabetes. Early detection of CAN in prediabetes
through population screening needs careful
consideration in view of the excess morbidity and
mortality risk associated with this condition.”
The above study underlines the importance of
diagnosing prediabetes. And once prediabetes is
diagnosed, screening for other known prediabetes
comorbidities should then occur -- including
screening for CAN. Providers should make it a point
to screen for prediabetes. The providers should
counsel patients who do have predicates on how to
lower the chances of getting type 2 diabetes. The
providers should then advise the patients on other
prediabetes-associated conditions. This can benefit
a patient by potentially improving the patient’s
health.
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