A review of risk factors and cardiovascular disease in diabetes care - 2011

Abstract

Evidence exists today from observational studies that hyperglycemia is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, with a risk increase per 1 %-unit increase in HbA1c of 27% in type 1 diabetes (1) and 11-16% in type 2 diabetes (2, 3), independently of clinical characteristics and other traditional risk factors. A risk reduction by glucose-lowering has most obviously been demonstrated in patients with type 1 diabetes, often younger or middle-aged with less traditional risk factors than patients with type 2 diabetes.