[Metabolic syndrome and type-II diabetes. Relations to macroangiopathy]

Clinical and epidemiological findings over the last few years are increasingly pointing to a metabolic syndrome comprising major cardiovascular risk factors, which frequently characterizes type II diabetes and its preliminary stages. More recent studies have shown that insulin resistance is genetically determined and can be detected in a pre-diabetic stage long before diabetes mellitus becomes manifest. It is thus not surprising that a large percentage of patients with type II diabetes already have clear signs of arteriosclerosis at the time the diagnosis is made. The results of the Schwabing study II indicate a "point of no return" for the development of cardiovascular disease, which makes early and vigorous intervention involving all facets of the metabolic syndrome a matter of urgency.