This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. People with diabetes are more likely to die from heart disease than people without diabetes. In fact, their risk is the same as that of people without diabetes who have already had a heart attack. Therefore, people with diabetes are treated for prevention as aggressively as those with previous heart attacks. Type 2 diabetes (DM2)was previously thought to be an adult disease, but now up to 30% of children with diabetes have DM2. When they develop heart disease is not known and no prevention guidelines exist for children. The risk for heart disease in people with diabetes cannot be accounted for based only on blood sugar and cholesterol levels, family history of heart disease, smoking and blood pressure. Middle-aged and older adults are known to have other characteristics that can predict risk, such as signs of inflammation in the blood, and calcium deposits in the arteries around the heart (seen by heart scans). Not enough is known about heart disease risk in younger people who have DM2. This study will investigate newer characteristics of heart disease risk in young adults with DM2. Signs of inflammation in the blood and calcium deposits in the arteries around the heart will be compared between young adults with DM2 and healthy young adults. If these characteristics in young adults with DM2 show increased risk of heart disease, then future studies can be designed to evaluate medical therapy in this age group and to examine the same characteristics in children with DM2.
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NIH ExPorter