Diabetes and Arterial Disease

Macroangiopathy (or atherosclerosis) is a common and chronic complication in diabetic patients. Unlike other diabetic complications, atherosclerosis is not unique to diabetes, confounding analysis of its relationship with the diabetic condition. Evidence of an independent role for diabetes in the development of atherosclerosis remains equivocal. The main determinant of macrovascular disease may be an interaction between diabetes and the aging process. Similarly the question of a relationship between macrovascular disease and good metabolic control remains unanswered. Macroangiopathy in diabetic populations seems to be related to similar predictors and pathological mechanisms operating in the general population. However, after analysis of these common risk factors for macroangiopathy, a diabetes‐specific risk remains. Low‐density lipoprotein metabolism is markedly disturbed in poorly controlled diabetic patients. This is manifest as a concert of actions which increase formation of foam cells and fatty streaks. The next step in the atherosclerotic process, the formation of fibrous plaques, may be associated with the platelet hyperactivity seen in diabetes. This may promote overshooting of repair mechanisms at the vessel wall. Release of a specific diabetic serum growth factor from the platelets may be responsible for the later stages of fibrous plaque development and the increased atherosclerotic risk in diabetes.