Type 2 diabetes is a strong risk factor for all manifestations of atherosclerotic vascular disease, coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease and peripheral vascular disease.CHD mortality and morbidity rates are two to four times higher in diabetic patients than in nondiabetic subjects.However, all underlying mechanisms for the accelerated atherogenesis in Type 2 diabetes have still remained poorly understood.We have studied the risk factors predicting cardiovascular disease in representative large cohorts of middle-aged patients with Type 2 diabetes from East Finland and West Finland during a 7-year follow-up.In both study populations the presence of Type 2 diabetes increased significantly the risk for CHD events.Diabetic men had 3-4-fold higher and diabetic women 8-11-fold higher risk for CHD than corresponding nondiabetic subjects.