EDITORIAL: DIABETES MELLITUS: A MAJOR CARDIOVASCULAR RISK

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the diabetic population causing up to 80% of deaths in these patients. Diabetes mellitus is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease mortality, increasing this risk by 1.5 to 4.5 fold. The prevalence of diabetes world wide is estimated to increase to 4.4% of the population by the year 2030 (366 mil- lion individuals) from 2.8% in 2000 (171 million individuals).