Cited by 221Diabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and LipoproteinsCardiovascular Health and Risk FactorsNutritional Studies and Diet

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 47 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 14 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Influence of Lifestyle on Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus

Open access

Abstract

BACKGROUD Evidence is limited regarding the impact of healthy lifestyle practices on the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events among patients with diabetes. OBJECTIVES To examine the associations of an overall healthy lifestyle, defined by eating a high-quality diet (top two fifths of Alternative Healthy Eating Index), non-smoking, engaging in moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (≥150 min/week), and drinking alcohol in moderation (5–15 g/day for women and 5–30 g/day for men), with the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD mortality among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS This prospective analysis included 11,527 participants with T2D diagnosed during follow-up (8,970 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and 2,557 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study), who were free of CVD and cancer at the time of diabetes diagnosis. Diet and lifestyle factors before and after T2D diagnosis were repeatedly assessed every 2–4 years. RESULTS There were 2,311 incident CVD cases and 858 CVD deaths during an average of 13.3 years of follow-up. After multivariate adjustment of covariates, the low-risk lifestyle factors after diabetes diagnosis were each associated with a lower risk of CVD incidence and CVD mortality. The multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) for participants with three or more low-risk lifestyle factors compared with zero was 0.48 (0.40–0.59) for total CVD incidence, 0.53 (0.42–0.66) for CHD incidence, 0.33 (0.21–0.51) for stroke incidence, and 0.32 (0.22–0.47) for CVD mortality (all P trend<0.001). The population-attributable-risk for poor adherence to the overall healthy lifestyle (<3 low-risk factors) was 40.9% (95% CI, 28.5%–52.0%) for CVD mortality. In addition, greater improvements in healthy lifestyle factors from pre- to post-diabetes diagnosis were also significantly associated with a lower risk of CVD incidence and CVD mortality. For each number increment in low-risk lifestyle factors, there were a 14% lower risk of incident total CVD, a 12% lower risk of CHD, a 21% lower risk of stroke, and a 27% lower risk of CVD mortality (all P <0.001). Similar results were observed when analyses were stratified by diabetes duration, sex/cohort, body mass index at diabetes diagnosis, smoking status, and lifestyle factors before diabetes diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS Greater adherence to an overall healthy lifestyle is associated with a substantially lower risk of CVD incidence and CVD mortality among adults with T2D. These findings further support the tremendous benefits of adopting a healthy lifestyle in reducing the subsequent burden of cardiovascular complications in patients with T2D.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

In two large U.S. prospective cohorts of adults with incident type 2 diabetes, greater adherence to an overall healthy lifestyle after diagnosis was associated with substantially lower risk of incident cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular mortality. Improvements in lifestyle from before to after diabetes diagnosis were also associated with lower subsequent CVD risk.

Key findings

  • Among 11,527 participants with incident T2D, 2,311 incident CVD cases and 858 CVD deaths occurred over an average 13.3 years of follow-up.
  • Comparing ≥3 versus 0 low-risk lifestyle factors after diabetes diagnosis, multivariate-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were 0.48 (0.40–0.59) for total CVD incidence, 0.53 (0.42–0.66) for CHD incidence, 0.33 (0.21–0.51) for stroke incidence, and 0.32 (0.22–0.47) for CVD mortality (all P trend <0.001).
  • The population-attributable-risk for poor adherence to the overall healthy lifestyle (<3 low-risk factors) was 40.9% (95% CI, 28.5%–52.0%) for CVD mortality.
  • Each increment in low-risk lifestyle factors was associated with 14% lower risk of total CVD, 12% lower CHD, 21% lower stroke, and 27% lower CVD mortality (all P<0.001); improvements from pre- to post-diabetes diagnosis were also associated with lower CVD incidence and mortality.

Methods

  • Prospective analysis pooled 8,970 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and 2,557 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study with incident T2D diagnosed during follow-up, free of CVD and cancer at diabetes diagnosis.
  • Diet and lifestyle factors were repeatedly assessed every 2–4 years; low-risk factors were high-quality diet (top two fifths of AHEI), non-smoking, moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity ≥150 min/week, and moderate alcohol intake (5–15 g/day women; 5–30 g/day men).
  • Cox proportional hazards models with time-varying exposures and covariates estimated HRs and 95% CIs for total CVD, CHD, stroke incidence, and CVD mortality; analyses also modeled changes in lifestyle score from pre- to post-diabetes diagnosis and calculated PAR.

Limitations

  • The paper states participants were all health professionals and mostly Caucasian, limiting generalizability; diabetes diagnoses spanned an extended period since the 1980s; self-reported diet/lifestyle had inevitable measurement error; there were no direct measurements of glycemic control or diabetes severity; PAR assumed causality; and residual confounding or chance could not be excluded.
  • The paper also notes the low-risk lifestyle factors considered may not represent all healthy behaviors.
  • Evident from the text: this is an observational cohort study, so the reported associations cannot establish causality, and the authors explicitly caution that the PAR calculation depends on a causal assumption.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.04.027

Cites

47 of 47 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 14 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 33 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 9
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 7
16 of 16
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The population-attributable risk calculation assumes a causal relationship between the low-risk lifestyle factors and cardiovascular disease risk.

    “Fifth, the PAR calculation was based on the assumption of a causal relationship between the low-risk lifestyle factors and CVD risk, which may not hold true in observational studies.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Little is known regarding whether improvements in lifestyle from pre- to post-diabetes diagnosis may yield cardiovascular benefits.

    “Importantly, little is known regarding whether improvements in lifestyle from pre- to post-diabetes diagnosis may yield cardiovascular benefits.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Weight change is a typical symptom of diabetes, and treatment can result in weight change after diagnosis.

    “Given that weight change is one of the typical symptoms of diabetes, and treatment could result in weight change after diagnosis as well, BMI may no longer serve as a valid measure of adiposity and thus was not included in the lifestyle score to minimize reverse causation bias (21).”
3 of 3

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Metadata

Authors
Liu, G., Li, Y., Hu, Y., Zong, G., Li, S., Rimm, E. B., Hu, F. B., Manson, J. E., Rexrode, K. M., Shin, H. J., & Sun, Q.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
  • Boston University (US)
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
Sun, Qi
Venue
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2018-06
Volume
71
Issue
25
Pages
2867-2876
ISSN
0735-1097 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2807965683
Cited by
221
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 5
FWCI
14.31
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of the American College of Cardiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL035464, R01HL034594, R01HL088521)
  • National Cancer Institute (UM1CA176726, UM1CA186107, UM1CA167552, U01CA176726, U01CA167552)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK058845, R01DK082486)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and Lipoproteins
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Health and Risk Factors
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
Keywords
healthy lifestyle, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease incidence, cardiovascular mortality, Alternative Healthy Eating Index, diet quality, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, coronary artery disease, stroke, prediabetes, lifestyle adherence, population attributable risk, Nurses' Health Study, Health Professionals Follow-up Study, cardiovascular risk reduction
MeSH terms
Aged, Cardiovascular Diseases, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Female, Humans, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, United States, Incidence

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