Why diabetes affects heart disease risk differently in men and women

Sex differences in the vascular consequences of diabetes: big data analyses to inform strategies for prevention and treatment

Dr Sanne Peters and her colleagues at the University of Oxford are studying why diabetes may have a bigger impact on heart disease risk in women compared with men. Heart disease and stroke remain one of the leading causes of death and disability in both men and women in the UK. Diabetes substantially increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, but may increase the risk more in women than in men. We don’t understand why this happens. Working this out could reveal new ways to reduce this risk. In this project, Dr Peters will study vast amounts of data in huge information databases in the UK (UK Biobank, anonymised NHS records and data from large genetic studies) to understand a number of factors related to the outcome of diabetes. She will study the effects of high blood glucose and diabetes on the heart and blood vessels in men and women, and will investigate whether any differences can be explained by sex specific genetic differences. Dr Peters will also work out what biological mechanisms might explain the different effects, and whether differences in health service delivery contribute to the different outcomes of diabetes between the sexes. This research could lead to new treatments that ensure women are not disproportionately affected by the heart and blood vessel effects of diabetes, and could reveal new ways to treat these conditions in both men and women.