Getting to the “Heart” of the Matter on Diabetic Cardiovascular Disease: “Thanks for the Memory”

Despite improved understanding of the pathogenesis of diabetes and the release of impressive new medications to control the condition, there remains a significant global diabetes burden. The latest International Diabetes Federation estimates indicate that 415 million (1 in 11 persons) have diabetes, and this will increase to 642 million or almost 10% of the general population by 2040 (1). Indeed, there are great individual, societal, and economic costs associated with diabetes. These costs clearly relate to the microvascular complications, which include retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy, that have been attenuated by better glycemic control and macrovascular complications that are relatively abated by better lipid and blood pressure control. However, for individuals with diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the main problem. Diabetes and CVD are closely linked, and CVD remains the most prevalent cause of morbidity and mortality in both men and women with diabetes (2). Specifically, the relative risk for CVD morbidity and mortality in adults with diabetes ranges from 1 to 3 in men and from 2 to 5 in women compared with those without diabetes (3). Given the issues facing individuals with both diabetes and CVD, we urgently need effective evidence-based interventional strategies to reduce cardiovascular risk and improve outcomes.With the aim of advancing toward this challenging goal, our editorial team is featuring in the present issue of Diabetes Care a collection of articles that may help to clarify the mechanisms linking diabetes to CVD. These articles comment on the control of risk factors and biomarkers for CVD and provide new updates on outcomes of landmark studies. In addition, we have included commentaries on cardiovascular safety of newer diabetes drugs and provide insights on mechanisms of action for cardioprotection observed with some new agents (4–13).The need to control risk factors for CVD (lipids, blood …