Diabetes and cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in people with diabetes. About 75 percent of people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.

Abnormalities in the concentration of lipids and lipoprotein in plasma have been reported to occur in almost 30% of persons with diabetes.

The risk for cardiovascular disease is directly proportional to the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and inversely proportional to the concentration of high density lipoprotein cholesterol. 

Several epidemiologic studies have shown repeatedly that individuals with diabetes have a high risk of cardiovascular disease in individuals without diabetes.

These suggest that men have a 2-3 fold higher risk of cardiovascular mortality than non-diabetic people. The relative risk is greater for women who have a 4-5 fold higher risk of cardiovascular mortality than their non-diabetic counterparts.

Diabetes is also a poor prognostic factor post myocardial infarction (MI); diabetic patients have a higher inhospitable mortality and post discharge mortality than non-diabetic patients, and a higher risk of infarct-related complications.

Middle age people with type 2 diabetes have the same high risk for heart attack as people without diabetes who already have had a heart attack.

Type 1 which is characterized by an absolute loss of beta cells such that there is almost a total absence of insulin secretion, the patients have increased cardiovascular risk factors as a consequence of their hyperglycemia.

Patients with type 1 diabetes may develop nephropathy as a consequence of poor glycemic control. In the early stages of diabetic nephropathy, thickening of the glomerulus occurs.

The increase in blood pressure and hyperlipidemia that result from diabetic nephropathy is responsible for a significant proportion of the increased risk. Diabetic nephropathy is a major predictor of premature death among Type 1 patients.
Diabetes and cardiovascular disease