Gender disparity in outcomes of care and management for diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.

Although diabetes lies among the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in both men and women, current evidence suggests that it has a much stronger effect on the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in women than in men. Moreover, diabetic women have not experienced the decline in CHD mortality observed in diabetic men and individuals without diabetes over the past three decades. Apart from a more pronounced direct effect of diabetes on the vascular wall, this greater impact of diabetes on CHD risk in women could be associated with a heavier burden of other traditional cardiovascular risk factors within the context of the metabolic syndrome, a stronger effect of the metabolic syndrome on CVD, and a less aggressive management of the various risk factors in diabetic women compared with men. This article discusses the recent evidence on the gender differences in the outcomes of CVD and the management of risk factors associated with diabetes and the metabolic syndrome, highlighting the need for better treatment strategies of diabetes and the other components of the metabolic syndrome in diabetic women.