Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body develops difficulty using the hormone insulin to process glucose (blood sugar) for energy. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the body mistakenly attacks the insulin-making cells of the pancreas. Without insulin, glucose (the body's main energy source) builds up in the bloodstream. Common complications of diabetes include cardiovascular conditions.

To learn more about cardiovascular disease in diabetic young people, researchers with the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth project examined the association between arterial stiffness and diabetes. They studied 602 diabetic Americans ages 10 to 23 years, 89 percent of whom had type 1 diabetes.

The investigators measured arterial stiffness with three tools (pulse wave velocity, augmentation index and brachial distensibility). They assessed the volunteers' diabetes management with glycohemoglobin blood tests, which reveal long-term control of glucose.

The tests indicated that the longer patients had diabetes, the more likely they were to have stiff arteries. In addition, the patients with type 2 diabetes had stiffer arteries than those with type 1 diabetes. The glycohemoglobin scores were not found to affect arterial stiffness.

Stiff arteries are considered a risk factor for atherosclerosis ("hardening of the arteries") and other cardiovascular problems in adults. The researchers called for long-term research to explore whether arterial stiffness in youth was an early warning sign of cardiovascular disease and whether glucose control could promote arterial flexibility.

The study was presented at the American Diabetes Association's annual scientific sessions.

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