Diabetes appears most often in middle age and among overweight people.
In a mild form, it can go undetected for many years. Besides increasing the risks of kidney disease, blindness, nerve and blood vessel damage, diabetes also seriously increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. In fact, more than 80 percent of people with diabetes die of some form of heart or blood vessel disease. Part of the reason for this is that diabetes affects cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Despite the different measures that may be taken to control glucose levels, as a contributing risk factor for heart disease, diabetes cannot be changed.