Male patients with inflammatory bowel disease have nearly double the risk of developing ischemic heart disease compared to those without the condition, while female patients with inflammatory bowel disease exhibit a lower risk, according to the results of a retrospective cohort study.

Utilizing data from Maccabi Healthcare Services in Israel, researchers identified 14,768 patients diagnosed with IBD between January 1990 and July 2021, comprising 6,144 with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 8,624 with Crohn's disease (CD). These patients were individually matched by sex and birth date to 120,338 individuals without IBD. The study population was followed until December 2021 to assess the occurrence of IHD events, according to a study in the Journal of Cardiology Cardiovascular Risk and Prevention.

Over a mean follow-up period of 10.5 years, 285 participants with IBD (1.9%) and 1,175 individuals in the reference group (1%) experienced IHD events. When stratified by sex, male IBD patients exhibited a higher risk of IHD, whereas a negative association was observed among female patients. These findings remained consistent when analyses were limited to patients with CD, UC, those on steroids, and those on immunosuppressants.

"It is increasingly evident that individuals with IBD should be closely monitored for additional risk factors that may interact synergistically, amplifying their likelihood of developing IHD," said Noa Cohen-Heyman of the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Tel Aviv University.

"Encouraging a healthy lifestyle, including adherence to the Mediterranean diet and regular physical activity, should be a priority. Furthermore, risk stratification based on CRP levels, disease flares, and hospitalizations may help identify patients in need of vigilant monitoring," Cohen-Heyman and colleagues added.

They declared that having no competing interests.