Heart failure often accompanies diabetes mellitus

: There are 320,000 diabetes patients in Denmark. Heart failure (HF) is a major cardiovascular complication to diabetes mellitus with increasing prevalence. HF occurs 2-4 times more frequently in diabetes patients, but patients may go undiagnosed for years. Diabetes patients typically suffer from diastolic dysfunction caused by myocardial hyper-trophy and "stiffness" of the left ventricle. This frequent finding has prompted the term "diabetic cardiomyopathy". Echocardiography is a key examination in diagnosing HF and may be warranted to a greater degree in diabetes patients at particular risk.