A QUARTER of people living with coronary heart disease in Northern Ireland also have diabetes, new figures show.
The British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland (BHF NI) said around 74,000 people in the north have coronary heart disease and around 19,000 of these people will also have diabetes.
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of premature death in Northern Ireland and the single biggest killer worldwide, while adults with diabetes are up to three times more likely to develop heart and circulatory conditions.
BHF NI is funding research at Queen’s University, Belfast into the link between heart disease and diabetes.
Dr Andriana Margariti and her team are working on a £264,000 research project, which could lead to the development of new ways to diagnose and treat people with diabetes.
They are studying how a harmful form of a molecule known as 'quaking' may promote damage to the blood vessels in people with diabetes. They believe that the harmful form of this molecule is higher in the cells in people with diabetes.
If they discover what causes levels of this "bad" form of quaking to increase, this could potentially be used to treat the cardiovascular complications of diabetes or screen patients earlier.
"Diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are elevated over a prolonged period of time," said Dr Margariti.
"This results in damage to the inner lining of blood vessels.
"We know that people with diabetes are much more likely to develop coronary heart disease because of this damage to the blood vessels.
"It’s also important to note that Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease also have some of the same risk factors, such as physical inactivity or being overweight.
"We urgently need more research to find better ways to treat and diagnose diabetes, so we can save the lives of people at risk of a potentially fatal heart attack."
Karen McCammon from BHF NI said there is "no doubt that people vastly underestimate the danger of diabetes".
"The condition significantly increases the risk of dying from heart disease and stroke, and research has shown that it can also contribute to the development of dementia," she said.
"Ultimately, all these problems are all caused by, and connected to, problems in the circulatory system that affect blood flow.
"Better public awareness of the risks will encourage people to get tested, take their treatments, and could ultimately save lives.
"The more we have learnt about the circulatory system, the clearer it has become that managing risk factors such as diabetes can reduce your chances of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
"This is why our research looks beyond the heart, in order to find a more coordinated approach to managing these life-threatening conditions."
