Abstract
One of the main risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) is diabetes mellitus (DM). The complexity and at the same time the importance of the relationship between diabetes and coronary heart disease and atherosclerotic complications in general are clarified gradually.
According to some data, up to 75% of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus die due to cardiovascular complications, the prevalence of coronary heart disease is higher in diabetics than in the rest of the population (about 25-35%). The risk of coronary heart disease in diabetics is the same as in patients without diabetes mellitus in secondary prevention.
Cholesterol is considered to be one of the main risk factors for the development of coronary heart disease in the general population, but average serum cholesterol levels are close to the non-diabetic population in diabetics. Although we cannot currently consider all relationships to be fully elucidated, it can be concluded that type 2 diabetes mellitus in particular is accompanied by metabolic and clinical abnormalities that increase the risk of developing atherosclerosis and which are mainly due to insulin resistance and hyperglycemia.
The results of the effect of lowering blood glucose in type 2 diabetics on the risk of coronary heart disease are often ambiguously significant; in accordance with the above facts, the effect on insulin resistance seems to be more significant.