Diabetes . Risk of coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation

Diabetes mellitus is a well-known risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease. The close relationship between metabolic disorders in terms of prediabetes (impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance) and heart failure as well as atrial fibrillation is comparable new but not only is diabetes associated with heart diseases the reverse is also true that the diagnosis of diabetes is often made in patients with heart disease. This interplay between metabolism and heart disease needs to be taken into account for diagnostics and therapeutic interventions so that the diabetic heart patient can be treated adequately. A prominent gender-specific effect is described in this scenario which is even more pronounced in this patient cohort suffering from diabetes and heart disease. The main topic of this article is to demonstrate the interrelation and the resulting treatment schedules of these diseases.