Diabetics left at heart attack risk

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A quarter of Britain's diabetics are not being given the basic medicines they need to ward off cardiovascular illnesses and heart attacks. This is the conclusion of researchers who have studied the treatments being prescribed for patients aged over 40.

'Despite their high cardiovascular risk, one in four patients with diabetes are not being treated with medicines that could prevent their death from complications of their disease,' said Wasim Baqir, head pharmacist for Northumbria Healthcare Trust. Baqir will present details of the study at the annual British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester today.

More than 2.5 million people in Britain suffer from diabetes. It occurs when glucose levels in a patient's blood rise because of a failure in their pancreas to make insulin. This hormone is responsible for breaking down sugars in the body. The disease can be controlled by the administration of insulin, other drugs or by changing diet.

The disease has a considerable impact on a patient's cardiovascular system because poorly controlled blood glucose levels can cause the arteries to fur up and narrow. It is recommended by the National Service Framework for Diabetes that patients over 40 be given aspirins - which prevent the formation of blood clots - and statins, which reduce blood cholesterol levels.

But when researchers studied 447 patients aged over 40, they found discrepancies in prescriptions. Some suffered reactions to aspirins and statins, while others were omitted from prescription lists. This latter group was made of 68 patients who did not receive aspirins and 50 that needed statins but did not get them.