Volume 71 Number 6 November 2004	back to contents

¹ Department of Medicine and
² Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY.

Address all correspondence to Michael E. Farkouh, M.D., F.A.C.C., Associate Director, Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center, New York University School of Medicine, 530 First Avenue, Suite 7G, New York, NY 10016.

Adapted from a Grand Rounds presentation to the Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY on October 16, 2002, and updated as of January 2004.

ABSTRACT

Diabetes has become a public health crisis. With the incidence of obesity rising in the United States, the number of diabetics will grow considerably. Of greatest concern is the impact this trend will have on cardiovascular disease. Diabetics demonstrate accelerated coronary atherosclerosis, and the prognosis is worse following cardiac events. Moreover, our interventions have achieved uneven success in treating this subset of patients. This paper will review the metabolic abnormalities that promote atherosclerosis in diabetics and the current methods for treating and preventing the development of coronary artery disease in diabetics, principally through a combination of medications and revascularization.

KEY WORDS

Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, antiplatelet, dyslipidemia, hypertension, myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, revascularization.

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