Men with type 2 diabetes and men with previous heart attack or stroke had a 3 to 4 fold risk of cardiovascular death compared to men without either disease in the years following the first acute event, according to a study in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg40.pdf.

The study underscores the high risk of diabetes, as "men with type 2 diabetes and no previous cardiovascular disease had a 3-fold cardiovascular mortality risk compared with men with neither cardiovascular disease nor diabetes at the beginning of the follow-up," write Dr. Gilles Dagenais and colleagues from Laval University and the University of Montreal. However, the study was limited to white men and diabetes was self-reported in two-thirds of cases.

During the first five years, men with type 2 diabetes had a lower risk for cardiovascular mortality compared to men with previous heart attack or stroke and without diabetes but in the long term the 2 groups had similar mortality risks.

These findings underscore the need for prevention and optimal management of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.