Atrial Fibrillation Risk Across the Time Course of Type 2 Diabetes

This study sought to evaluate the relationship between the progression of type 2 diabetes and detailed fasting glucose level with the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). The analysis included a total of more than 6.19 million subjects who were not diagnosed with atrial fibrillation who underwent health check-up in 2009 from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. The authors compared AF risk among subjects with normal fasting glucose (NFD), those with impaired fasting glucose (IFD), and those with diabetes <5 years (early DM), and those with diabetes of five years or more (late DM). Participants were risk-stratified by fasting glucose level per 10 mg/dL. The risk of AF increased significantly across the time course of type 2 diabetes, according to the results, particularly in participants in the IFG group. “the risk of AF increased with the time course of type 2 diabetes,” the researchers said. “However, low blood glucose in antidiabetic medication user was associated with an increased risk of AF.”

Yang S, et al. Am J Cardiol. 2019;doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2019.09.009