Diabetes Care, Vol 21, Issue 8 1349-1352, Copyright © 1998 by American Diabetes Association
Ultrasonographic manifestations of carotid atherosclerosis and glucose intolerance in elderly eastern Finnish men
J Tuomilehto, Q Qiao, R Salonen, A Nissinen and JT Salonen
Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland. jaakko.tuomilehto@ktl.fi
OBJECTIVE: To study the association of ultrasonographic manifestations of
common carotid atherosclerosis with glucose intolerance in survivors of the
cohort of men born in 1900-1919 in eastern Finland. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
METHODS: Carotid ultrasonography was carried out for 182 men in 1989.
Glucose tolerance status classified based on an oral glucose tolerance test
in 1984 and 1989 surveys was used in both prospective and cross-sectional
analyses. RESULTS: Carotid atherosclerosis was common in men aged 70-89
years. There was no significant difference in the maximal carotid
intimal-medial thickness between diabetic and nondiabetic men and over
different age-groups; it was 1.28, 1.33, and 1.36 mm in subjects with
diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, and normal glucose tolerance,
respectively (P = 0.69). No association between the presence of a
nonmineralized or a mineralized atherosclerotic lesion with diabetes was
found. Fasting plasma insulin did not relate to ultrasonographically
detectable atherosclerotic lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperglycemia and
hyperinsulinemia may not be main contributors to atherosclerosis in elderly
men, partly because smoking is less common and total and LDL cholesterol
concentrations are lower in diabetic men than in men with normal glucose
tolerance.