World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated every year on November 14. The World Diabetes Day campaign is led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations. It engages millions of people worldwide in diabetes advocacy and awareness.
World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat that diabetes now poses. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2007 with the passage of United Nations Resolution 61/225.
The association of diabetes and coronary artery disease is well-documented. According to a press release from Medtronic, a supporter of WDD:
“Diabetes and coronary artery disease represent two of the most common and costly conditions confronting the global population, and they often occur in the same people,” explained Martin Rothman, M.D., vice president of medical affairs for Medtronic’s coronary business and a professor of interventional cardiology at Barts Health in London. “In fact, decades of clinical and epidemiological research show a predictive link between the two. Approximately one-third of patients who present in cardiac catheterization laboratories for coronary artery disease also have diabetes, which creates myriad challenges that can adversely affect clinical outcomes.”
Preventing diabetes would go a long way towards lessening the health and economic burdens of heart disease. And treating diabetics for atherosclerosis is one of the most challenging questions in cardiology.
Angioplasty.Org will be reporting on this issue in an upcoming feature on the FREEDOM trial. Stay tuned….
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