Cardiovascular Disease in the Diabetic Woman

Abstract

The incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with age is increasing in the United States, and elderly women constitute a disproportional component of the aging population. Elderly women also have a relatively high incidence of diabetes, which contributes to this relatively high CVD risk. Although CVD is less common in premenopausal women than in men, this difference begins to disappear after the onset of menopause, presumably related to decreased levels of female sex hormones (estrogen and/or progesterone). Diabetes mellitus removes the normal premenopausal gender-related differences in the prevalence of CVD by mechanisms that are not clearly defined, including metabolic and hemodynamic factors associated with diabetes. Dyslipidemia in diabetes mellitus consists of low high density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated triglyceride levels, and a small, dense, more atherogenic low density lipoprotein particle (i.e. oxidized). Dyslipidemia interacts with associated hemodynamic (i.e. hypertension) and metabolic abnormalities (i.e. increased platelet aggregation and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 levels) to promote CVD risks in diabetic women. Recent controlled trials underscore the critical importance of aggressively treating CVD risk factors, especially dyslipidemia, in women with diabetes.