New studies by an international team of scientists led by Joslin Diabetes Center have found variations in a gene that help explain why people with type 2 diabetes are at much greater risk for coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death for this group. “We now have potential gene markers to help identify diabetes patients at increased risk for heart disease,” said Alessandro Doria, M.D., Ph.D., Investigator in Joslin’s Genetics and Epidemiology research section, Director of Joslin’s Genetics Core and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “This knowledge could potentially lead to drugs or other methods that affect this pathway, reducing risk of heart attack and stroke in these patients.”
