A report by the Image Council of the American College of Cardiology, which is published on Monday in 'Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Imaging cardiovascular', finds that some tools, such as the effort or coronary calcium exploration test, could beUseful to determine the level of risk of heart disease in people with type 2 diabetes.
With this information, health providers could match the intensity of therapy with the level of risk of cardiac pathologies in their patients with type 2 diabetes.
"When properly evaluating the risk level of coronary heart disease, doctors will know when to prescribe more aggressive and less aggressive treatment strategies for their patients," says Matthew J. Budoff, principal investigator in the Biomed and president of the report writing group.Although the most recent data indicate that the risk of coronary heart disease for people with type 2 diabetes is less than what was previously believed, it is still essential to properly evaluate the risk and provide adequate care strategies. ”
The document indicates that several types of tests can help doctors to measure the risk of heart disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. Among them are the effort test, in which patients are exercised while they are connected to the equipment ofMonitoring because it can detect "silent" ischemia or reductions in blood flow to the heart in patients without signs of heart disease.
The pathologies of the coronary arteries, which often lead to attacks to the heart, develop as a result of the accumulation of cholesterol plates that can be calcified in the coronary arteries.This calcium can be detected by heart exploration with computerized tomography (CT), which can help identify patients at greater risk and lead to better treatments.
The report indicates that 25 to 30 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are now considered at low risk of coronary heart disease due to the absence of coronary atherosclerosis or plaque in coronary arteries.The authors believe that these recommendations may indicate the need for screening patients with type 2 diabetes for calcium deposits and a functional study in those with substantial calcium accumulation to determine if they are also suffering from ischemia.They also believe that more studies are needed to determine if this approach could lead to better results.