New Research on Diabetes’ Impact on Cardiovascular Disease Could Benefit Thousands of New Zealanders

A researcher from the University of Auckland’s Bioengineering Institute has been

granted a three-year A.H. Couch Trust Heart Foundation Scholarship to investigate

how diabetes significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular complications – a

move that could one day benefit thousands of New Zealanders’ health.

With more than 180,000 New Zealanders living with heart disease, and over 320,000

estimated to be living with diabetes, Phuong Bui will be examining the burden

diabetes has on the heart, particularly the impact of diabetes on the heart’s energy

system.

Cardiovascular complications, including heart disease, heart attack and stroke, are

the leading cause of death for people with diabetes.

Phuong hopes her research will lead to clinical therapies that could reduce the

impact of diabetes on the heart and improve lives.

Her research aims to uncover how diabetes affects the heart’s energy metabolism,

which is the process where the body converts nutrients into energy to keep the heart

functioning.

The heart muscle requires a continuous energy supply. To provide this energy, heart

cells covert various fuel sources into energy, a function called ‘metabolic flexibility’.

However, diabetes disrupts this flexibility, which impacts the ability of the heart to use

energy to pump blood around the body.

In some cases, people with diabetes experience diabetic heart failure due to reduced

heart capacity to pump blood to meet their body’s needs.

Diabetic heart failure impacts a person’s quality of life, including bouts of fatigue,

weakness and shortness of breath and reduces their ability to exercise.

No treatments are currently available for diabetic heart failure, which remains a

significant burden.

Phuong’s motivation for researching the impact diabetes has on the heart is

personal, revealing one of her family members is living with a heart condition.

“My grandmother has been living with a heart condition for more than a decade. It’s

really impacted her quality of life. It’s one of my main motivators in researching heart

disease as well as improving quality of life for many others,” Phuong says.

Diving deeper, Phuong adds: “By combining advanced experimental techniques with

computational modelling, we hope to uncover valuable insights around how diabetes

changes the mechanics of the heart muscle.” Diabetes and Heart Disease

Diabetes is a condition that causes too much glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood.

It occurs when your body has trouble making or using a hormone called insulin.

People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have a heart attack or

stroke, than people who don’t have diabetes.

The impact on Māori and Pasifika is even more prevalent, with Māori and Pasifika

more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Phuong hopes that her research will have implications for the development of clinical

therapies to reduce the effects of diabetes on the heart.

A.H. Couch Trust Legacy

The Heart Foundation and the A.H. Couch Trust are working in partnership to

support promising cardiology trainees and researchers who are carrying out heart

research in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The A.H. Couch Trust was established in 1972 through the generosity of the late

Arthur Herbert Couch after he survived a serious heart attack.

“The investment from the A.H. Couch Trust will aid in understanding heart health on

a deeper level,” Phuong says.