Autoimmune diseases increase the risk of cardiovascular disease

Published on 08/27/2022 at 22:31Reading time: 2 minutes

TheA large study led by KU Leuven showed that people with autoimmune diseases are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. The risk increases, especially in young patients.

In this international study, researchers looked for links between 19 of the most common autoimmune diseases and cardiovascular disease. They relied on anonymous data from “Clinical Practice Research Datalink”, a research service of the UK Department of Health. 22 million patient records were reviewed.

It turns out that the risk of developing cardiovascular disease is 1.56 times higher in patients with autoimmune diseases. The risk increases even more with the accumulation of many autoimmune diseases. Systemic sclerosis, Addison’s disease, lupus, and type 1 diabetes are among the most serious.

Overall, the autoimmune impact on cardiovascular health appears to be much greater than previously thought, according to the team of researchers report.

They also found that the additional risk of developing cardiovascular disease was greater in autoimmune patients and those under 55 years of age.

“We see that the additional risk is comparable to that of type 2 diabetes,” says the research director. “But when specific measures are taken for diabetic patients to reduce cardiovascular risk, this is not the case for those with autoimmune disease” Natalie Conrad ( University of Leuven). “These results show that we need to take action.”

The results of the research are presented this weekend at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology and published in The Lancet.