Diabetes is a disease that increases the risk of acute cerebral-vascular accidents (ACVA) and worsens its prognosis. In 238 patients treated because of ACVA, glucose metabolism was studied and it was found that only 20% were diagnosed and almost 40% had this metabolism altered which until then had not been diagnosed.

Diabetes is a recognized risk factor in the development of an acute cerebral-vascular accident that multiplies 2 or 3 times the risk of suffering it. In addition, once it appears in the patient's clinical history, its prognosis is worse because it has more complications, greater mortality rate and produces more incapacity in the long term.

A group of Austrian and Finnish investigators have studied glucose metabolism during the acute phase, in 286 patients who underwent ACVA. These patients had a glucose tolerance study which was carried out according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.

20% of the patients had been previously diagnosed diabetes, whereas 16% were diagnosed during the ACVA hospitalization. 23% reported a disorder denominated altered glucose tolerance, which is a state where glucose is at a normal level while on fast, but which abnormally, rises after the ingestion of a certain quantity orally.

This phase is recognized as a state of evolution towards forthright diabetes (approximately 50% of the cases in 10 years) and associates greater risk of suffering cardiovascular diseases. Diabetic patients had more severe ACVA than those that had a normal glucose metabolism; between both groups' average were patients with bad glucose tolerance.

Statistical analysis demonstrated that female gender and the presence of urinary infections at the entrance were strongly correlated in a hard and independent form in the development of diabetes.

The authors concluded that many patients with ACVA have glucose metabolism disorders, which was to a great extent ignored until then. On the other hand, the evolution in diabetics is worse. The authors recommend that in all patients with ACVA these glucose metabolism disorders be discarded.