BOSTON, June 21 (UPI) -- Children of type 2 diabetic parents have endothelial dysfunction, predisposition to arteriosclerosis, even when they don't have diabetes, says a U.S. study.
"If early treatment can prevent progression of arteriosclerosis, then identifying groups of persons at risk for diabetes in whom early arteriosclerosis may be present is clinically important," said Dr. Allison B. Goldfine, of the Joslin Diabetes Center and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
None of the 38 adult study participants in their mid- to late-30s had diabetes, but half of them were the offspring of two diabetic parents. The researchers restricted blood flow in the arms of the participants using a blood pressure cuff.
Then, using ultrasound, they compared how blood vessels in the arms of participants responded to the surge in blood flow when the cuff was released. Blood-vessel responsiveness was impaired in all 19 participants -- nine men and 10 women -- whose parents had diabetes, according to the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
