The impact of diabetes and prediabetes on risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality

Although it is well established that type 2 diabetes is a strong risk factor for coronary heart disease, it is still a matter of debate whether diabetes and a prior coronary heart disease confer similar risk for future risk of fatal coronary heart disease. Most of the published studies on this topic did not consider the duration of diabetes when comparing the effects of diabetes alone and a prior coronary heart disease alone. Recent studies suggest that duration of clinical diabetes is an important risk factor for fatal coronary heart disease and total mortality. In addition, the incidence of cardiovascular disease is elevated long before the clinical diagnosis of diabetes. (C) 2002 Prous Science. All rights reserved.