Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke Complications in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: an Observational, Prospective Study

Background and Aims: We assessed the effect of intensive therapy on modifiable cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and CV risk as compared to conventional therapy in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Material and Methods: This was an observational, prospective study, conducted in Romania. During 1-year follow-up period the enrolled participants received either multi-factorial pharmacotherapy associated with intensive therapeutic education (Intensive group), or conventional therapy (Control group). Current analysis included data (anthropometric measurements, blood pressure and biochemical parameters) recorded at months (M) 0, 6 and 12. CV risk was calculated at M1 and M12 using the UK Prospective Diabetes Study Risk Engine. Results: 138 patients aged 57.02±10.05 years were included in this analysis (69 in each group). At M6 and M12 a significant improvement of the majority of the modifiable risk factors in the Intensive group compared to the Control group was observed. At M12, coronary heart disease (CHD)/fatal-CHD risks were significantly lower in the Intensive (7.5%/3.1%) than in the Control (17.95%/10.3%) group (p<0.05). A similar trend was observed for the stroke/fatal-stroke risks. Conclusions: CHD/fatalCHD and stroke/fatal-stroke risk burden decreased in newly diagnosed diabetic patients following multi-factorial pharmacotherapy association with intensive lifestyle changes during 1-year follow-up. key words: type 2 diabetes, newly diagnosed patients, cardiovascular risk, lifestyle changes, multi-factorial therapy