Regular CIMT screening is imperative for those with diabetes. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for the 29.1 million diabetics in the United States. Up to 65% of those with diabetes develop heart and blood vessel diseases.

These patients have few symptoms until the advanced stages of disease - until their first heart attack - according to researcher Frans J. Wackers, M.D., a professor of cardiovascular medicine with Yale University School of Medicine.

Diabetics are at a much greater risk for CVD than non-diabetics because of the damage diabetes can cause to major arteries, including the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart and brain. The damage makes it easier for plaque to build up in the arteries, closing off blood supply and increasing blood pressure.

Women are much more susceptible to vascular damage from diabetes than are men. However, diabetic men are at a much greater risk for CVD than non-diabetic men. Diabetes is the only factor known to erase a pre-menopausal woman's protection from heart disease. Diabetics who smoke, have lipid abnormalities, or have high blood pressure, are even more vulnerable to vascular injury and atherosclerosis caused by diabetes.

ArterioVision™ can bring into focus the extent of vascular damage and atherosclerosis in diabetic patients. Once determined, the response of atherosclerosis to diabetes control, lipid therapy, blood pressure control, and other interventions can be monitored with serial CIMT measurements. Reduction of atherosclerosis in diabetics, one of the most susceptible groups of patients, is imperative.