Written and clinically reviewed by Marissa Town, RN, BSN, CDCES
According to the World Health Organization, heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide.1 It’s also the number one cause of death in the United States.2
Fortunately, there are many options for reducing risk for heart disease. Similarly to treating diabetes, heart disease prevention is a combination of lifestyle modifications and medications. However, there are inconsistent recommendations for people with type 1 diabetes (T1D),3 and even the 2021 American Diabetes Associations’ Standards of Care notes this in section 10 on cardiovascular disease and risk management.4
It’s often assumed that people with type 1 diabetes are at higher risk for heart disease, and it is suggested that people with type 1 start taking preventative medications – such as statins – earlier than non-PWD. For example: UK guidelines recommend that people with type 1 diabetes should start statins for prevention starting at age 40 or for people with more than 20 years of diabetes with an additional heart disease risk factor based on the assumption of high risk at the ten year mark.3
The concern is that there are not many long-term studies showing what happens when people take statins for multiple decades, starting at younger ages.3 Some people have side effects such as leg cramps and increased glucose levels, and they can cause damage to a fetus if you become pregnant while taking statins.5
Researchers in Scotland and Sweden used their national diabetes registries to collect data and create a tool to help predict the risk of cardiovascular disease for people with type 1 diabetes.3 Data was reviewed from over 50,000 people with type 1 who have type 1 diabetes over age 18 who had been diagnosed with T1D before the age of 50 years and at the rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by age.3
The data suggested that most people were not at a higher risk until they reach the age of 50, not aged 40 or lower.3 The researchers state that they are not suggesting people should not be given statins to help prevent CVD, but that more consideration and perhaps utilizing their risk analysis model could help give more insight into a person’s risks.3
The goals are now to collect more data and help health care professionals realize that people with type 1 diabetes are not always at a higher risk for all problems, including cardiovascular disease.
There are many things that are modifiable risks for CVD, which means you can make changes in efforts to reduce your risks. For more information on heart disease, see the following resources:
- American Heart Association
- American Association for Diabetes Care & Education Specialist’s Handouts:
- The Center for Disease Control & Prevention
References:
- WHO: Cardiovascular Diseases
- CDC: Leading Causes of Death
- Development and validation of a cardiovascular risk prediction model in type 1 diabetes
- Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Management: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2021
- Statin side effects: Weigh the benefits and risks
