Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: Insights from the Framingham Heart Study

Abstract

The role of diabetes in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) was unclear until 1979 when Kannel et al used data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) to identify diabetes as a major cardiovascular risk factor. It was also one of the first studies to demonstrate the higher risk of CVD in women with diabetes compared to men with diabetes. Since then, multiple studies have been done to recognize and curtail cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance. This review will examine the contribution of the Kannel article and subsequent studies in defining the contribution of several risk factors on cardiovascular disease.

Role of advanced glycation end products in the onset of diabetic kidney disease complications

“…As a model of chronic disease, its complications significantly affect the quality of life of diabetic patients, configuring a public health problem 1,7 . Diabetic nephropathy has been widely recognized as one of the major complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus, being a more common cause of chronic end-stage renal disease 11 .…”

“…The consequences of uncontrolled glycemic levels are often related to diabetic chronic complications which include microvascular (nephropathy, retinopathy and neuropathy) and macrovascular disease (stroke and atherosclerosis).Thus, cardiovascular complications have the worst prognostic as they are associated with high morbidity and mortality, being the main cause of death 5,6 . Moreover, diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a representative disorder of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) [7][8][9][10] . Thus, prevention of the development and progression of this disorder is of clinical importance to improve prognosis in diabetic patients.…”

Assessment of endothelial function by flow-mediated dilation in diabetic patients: Effects of physical exercise

“…After adjustment of age, relative risk was higher for women than for men in all complications analyzed which includes congestive heart failure, intermittent claudication, stroke, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease deaths (Qazi & Malik, 2013).…”

Can myocardial performance index predict the presence of silent ischemia in asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients?

“…Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a remarkable and serious cause of death and morbid conditions among patients with diabetes . CAD was found to account for more than half of deaths within adult diabetics…”