COLORADO SPRINGS — Hyperglycemia was associated with a significantly increased stroke risk in a prospective study of 43,393 asymptomatic middle-aged men free of known cardiovascular disease and diabetes at baseline.
This finding raises the possibility that prevention and treatment of hyperglycemia could play a major role in stroke prevention, Dr. Xuemei Sui reported at a conference sponsored by the American Heart Association.
The men were seen for a preventive medical examination at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas during 1971–2003. During nearly 703,000 man-years of follow-up, the group collectively experienced 156 fatal and 456 nonfatal strokes.
The age-adjusted fatal stroke rate was 2.1 cases per 10,000 man-years in subjects with a normal fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level of 80–109 mg/dL, 3.4/10,000 man-years in those with impaired fasting glucose as defined by an FPG of 110–125 mg/dL, and 4.0/10,000 man-years in subjects with undiagnosed diabetes as reflected by an FPG level of 126 mg/dL or above.
Among men with an FPG of 110 mg/dL or more, each 10-mg/dL increment in FPG was associated with a 7% increased risk of total stroke events after adjustment for family history of cardiovascular disease, age, body mass index, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking status, and alcohol intake, said Dr. Sui of the University of South Carolina, Columbia.