Research

Hormonal

Diabetes mellitus is an independent major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and from a cardiovascular medicine perspective, it is appropriate to classify diabetes itself as a cardiovascular disease.

If you have diabetes, you must treat your cardiovascular health with the same urgency as your blood sugar. Diabetes is not just a metabolic issue; it is a direct cause of heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure. Aggressive management of blood pressure, cholesterol, and smoking cessation is mandatory because your baseline risk for heart disease is already significantly elevated by the diabetes itself.

StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
These considerations have convinced the Scientific Advisory and Coordinating Committee of the American Heart Association (AHA) that diabetes mellitus deserves to be designated a major risk factor for CVD... it may be appropriate to say, 'diabetes is a cardiovascular disease.'
Scott M. Grundy et al. · Circulation · 1999

Why this rating

Based on a comprehensive AHA Scientific Statement reviewing large epidemiological, pathological, and clinical trial data.

Source

Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease

Scott M. Grundy et al. · Circulation · 1999

DOI 10.1161/01.cir.100.10.1134

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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