There’s more evidence that atherosclerosis - hardening of the arteries - starts early in young people with type 1 diabetes, underscoring the need to monitor blood pressure and cholesterol levels in adolescents with the disease.

“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in people with diabetes, and atherosclerosis is the underlying foundation of cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Wendy J. Mack from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles commented to AMN Health.

She and her colleagues measured the thickness of the wall of the carotid artery - an indicator of sub-clinical atherosclerosis - in 142 people ranging in age from 12 to 25 who had type 1 diabetes, and in a comparison group of 87 age-matched non-diabetic “controls.”

The team also measured blood levels of cholesterol and other lipids, blood pressure, weight in relation to height, and the degree of blood glucose control in the diabetic subjects.

The carotid wall was significantly thicker on average in diabetic than in non-diabetic participants across both sexes, the investigators report in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Diabetics with high blood pressure, retinal damage, or impaired kidney function had significantly thicker carotid walls than did subjects who did not have these complications.

In male but not female diabetic subjects, the researchers saw that carotid wall thickness decreased as levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol increased.

“Our study shows that atherosclerosis begins early and that it relates to abnormalities of lipids and to diabetes complications,” Mack concluded.

“Providers of diabetes care for children and youth,” she added, “need to begin to monitor lipids and consider interventions according to the standards of care for diabetes in children to help avert cardiovascular disease in the future.”

SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, October 2004.