The levels of average blood sugar over the past two to three months – hemoglobin A1C- were analyzed upon the participants’ admission. Any value of HbA1C above 6.5% or higher generally indicates diabetes.
All the participants had an average A1C of 7.5%. They were then followed up one year later to explore if there was an association between A1C levels with the risk of another stroke, a heart attack, or dying from these or other vascular causes.
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Blood Sugar and Vascular Events
It was seen that 1,437 (8%) of the participants had a heart attack or died from vascular disease within a year of starting the study, and 954, or 5%, had another stroke.
The increased risk of these vascular event were 27% more and 28% greater for another stroke among those with A1C levels above 7.0% when compared to those below 6.5%.
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However, the study had its limitation as the blood sugar levels were measured only at the start of the study with no follow-up levels available.
“We know that having diabetes may be associated with an increased risk of having a first stroke. However, our results indicate that there is an optimal blood sugar level that may start to minimize the risk of having another stroke, a heart attack, or other vascular problems, and it’s right in the 6.8% to 7.0% range. Our findings highlight the importance of keeping a close eye on your blood sugar if you’re diabetic and have had a stroke,” says the study author Moon-Ku Han, MD, Ph.D., of Seoul National University College of Medicine in Korea.
Source: Medindia
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