Diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

This review focuses on several topics related to the epidemiology of diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). These include the CVD risk factors common in the metabolic syndrome, behavioral risk factors and diabetes, gender differences in the association between diabetes and CVD risk, and how the clinical definition of diabetes influences the association of diabetes and CVD. Nontraditional risk factors potentially linking diabetes and CVD are also discussed, including chronic inflammation, advanced glycation endpoints, autonomic neuropathy, sleep-disordered breathing, and genetic susceptibility to diabetes-associated CVD risk.