Abstract
Background: People with type 2 diabetes generally carry an array of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), including hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia, alterations in inflammatory mediators and coagulation/thrombolytic parameters, as well as other ‘non-traditional’ risk factors, many of which may be closely associated with insulin resistance. Consequently, rates of CVD mortality and morbidity are particularly high in this population. Targeting hyperglycaemia alone does not reduce the excess risk in diabetes, highlighting the need for aggressive treatment of other risk factors.Scope: This is a review of cardiovascular risk markers in diabetes, based on MEDLINE and EMBASE literature searches (1994–2004).Findings: Although, the current use of statin therapy is effective at reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, residual risk remains from other independent lipid and non-lipid factors. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) appears to be intimately involved in regulat...