More than 65 percent of total mortality from diabetes is due to cardiovascular disease, including fatal atherothrombotic events such as acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), ischemic stroke (due to reduced blood flow and oxygen levels), critical ischemia of lower limbs, and sudden heart failure.
Compared to individuals with a normal concentration of blood glucose, the presence of diabetes is known to confer a two to four times higher risk of vascular complications that may be partly due to the prothrombotic milieu observed in patients with diabetes.
