Women with diabetes may face more hidden heart damage

News briefs

November 19, 2025

By Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch

Reviewed by Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

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Thermal image of a woman with her hands clasped over her chest.

Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

Researchers evaluated 479 people ages 18 to 75 with diabetes (42% women) and 116 people without diabetes (41% women) and compared sex differences for a phenomenon called coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD). CMD refers to problems in the small blood vessels of the heart, which can stiffen and impair blood flow to the organ even when larger arteries are clear. Specialized tests, including cardiac MRI, measured microvascular function in participants’ hearts.

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About the Author

Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch

Maureen Salamon is executive editor of Harvard Women’s Health Watch. She began her career as a newspaper reporter and later covered health and medicine for a wide variety of websites, magazines, and hospitals. Her work has … See Full Bio

View all posts by Maureen Salamon

About the Reviewer

Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Robert H. Shmerling is the former clinical chief of the division of rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and is a current member of the corresponding faculty in medicine at Harvard Medical School. … See Full Bio

View all posts by Robert H. Shmerling, MD

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