Heart disease, diabetes may be deadly combination: study

People with Type 2 diabetes who are admitted to the hospital for congestive heart failure face a one in four chance of dying over the next 18 months, a global study has warned.

The findings paint a much grimmer picture of the outcome for diabetes patients with severe heart disease.

"Type 2 diabetes accompanied by an acute coronary syndrome needs much more attention, especially in order to prevent yet another major cardiac event," said main investigator William B White from University of Connecticut Health Centre.

Patients with Type 2 diabetes have two to three times the heart disease risk of the general population.

This is partly because obesity and other illnesses such as hypertension and elevated cholesterol contribute to both diseases, but there are concerns that some of the medications that help control blood sugar may also damage the heart, Medical Xpress reported.

Even insulin, a hormone that healthy people make naturally but some patients with Type 2 diabetes often need asmedication, can contribute to heart disease.

"People with Type 2 diabetes admitted to the hospital for heart failure faced a 24 to 28 percent chance of death on anti-diabetic drugs," the authors noted in the new study.

That's more than five times the risk of death seen in the patients who had no additional non-fatal cardiovascular event.

"It's a very dramatic result.

A person with Type 2 diabetes requiring hospitalisation for heart failure in the Examine trial was a harbinger of a very poor outcome," added White.