Elevated HbA1c protective in heart failure patients

ELEVATED glycosylated haemaglobin (HbA1c) levels may actually help improve survival rates in patients with diabetes who have established advanced heart failure, according to a study of 845 heart failure patients with and without diabetes in the US.

Researchers followed patients for two years. Among heart failure patients with diabetes, there was a 15% decrease in mortality for every unit increase in HbA1c. The ideal level appeared to be 8.3–8.9%, with two-year event-free survival highest among those with the highest levels.

Patients with more than 8.6% of the marker had a 65% survival rate, compared with 42% when levels fell below 6%.

American Journal of Cardiology 2012; online 29 Mar

http://www.ajconline.org/article/S0002-9149%2812%2900698-4/abstract