It emerged that the risk of developing cardiovascular disease is on average 1.56 times higher in patients with an autoimmune disease. The risk increases further with the accumulation of several autoimmune diseases. Systemic sclerosis, Addison’s disease, lupus, and type 1 diabetes are among the highest risk conditions.
Overall, the influence of autoimmunity on cardiovascular health appears to be much greater than previously thought, reports the team of researchers. The additional risk of developing cardiovascular disease is greater in patients with autoimmune disease and under the age of 55, they also found.
“We see that the additional risk is comparable to that of type 2 diabetes. But where specific measures are taken in diabetic patients to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, this is not the case in those who have an autoimmune disease,” says research director Nathalie Conrad (KU Leuven). “These results show that we need to take action.”
The research results are being presented this weekend at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology and published in The Lancet.