Subclinical vascular disease in patients with diabetes is associated with insulin resistance

Publication date: Available online 23 May 2019Source: Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & ReviewsAuthor(s): María M. Adeva-Andany, Raquel Funcasta-Calderón, Carlos Fernández-Fernández, Eva Ameneiros-Rodríguez, Alberto Domínguez-MonteroAbstractPatients with diabetes experience increased cardiovascular risk that is not fully explained by deficient glycemic control or traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking and hypercholesterolemia. Asymptomatic patients with diabetes show structural and functional vascular damage that includes impaired vasodilation, arterial stiffness, increased intima-media thickness and calcification of the arterial wall. Subclinical vascular injury associated with diabetes predicts subsequent manifestations of cardiovascular disease, such as ischemic heart disease, peripheral artery disease and stroke. Noninvasive detection of subclinical vascular disease is commonly used to estimate cardiovascular risk associated to diabetes. Longitudinal studies in normotensive subjects show that arterial stiffness at baseline is associated with a greater risk for future hypertension independently of established risk factors. In patients with type 2 diabetes, vascular disease begins to develop during the latent phase of insulin resistance, long before the clinical diagnosis of diabetes. In contrast, patients with type 1 diabetes do not manifest vascular injury when they are first diagnosed due to insulin deficiency, as they lack the pre...

Source: Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews - May 23, 2019 Category: Endocrinology Source Type: research