[Vascular complications of diabetes: is there a glycemic threshold?]

A causal relation is established between hyperglycaemia and cardiovascular disease, but is there a glucose threshold for diabetic macroangiopathy comparable to the fasting glucose concentration of 7 mmol (126 mg)/dL for diabetic microangiopathy? The diagnostic criteria for diabetes are now based on this relation. Data from long-term prospective have been convergent in showing the lack of a glucose threshold for diabetic macroangiopathy: mortality is a progressive and continuous function of glucose concentrations and also fo glycated haemoglobin levels. This observation highlights the necessity for optimal glycaemic control as well as treatment of other risk factors to prevent vascular complications of diabetes mellitus.