Stroke in Patients with Diabetes: Is It Time to Expand Public Health Priority to Encompass High-Risk Patients with Increased Insulin Resistance?

Abstract

Diabetes and stroke, with an interlinking aetiology, contribute to a growing cardiovascular disease burden and mortality around the world. Given the disproportionate prevalence and the burden of these conditions in the developing world, as well as the high risk of both Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease carried by patients with metabolic syndrome, public health strategies are vital to mitigate the impact. Systematic approaches towards identifying undiagnosed patients in the community and building health systems around those targeted interventions have been implemented. However, growing evidence indicates potential for approaches to capture high-risk patients, such as those who suffer from pre-diabetes or increased insulin resistance, to provide early and optimal treatments, which could translate to population-level benefits, including reduced prevalence, disability, and disease burden.