The Promise of a Warranty.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is among the most powerful independent risk factors of the cardiovascular disease presence and is associated with a 3 to 5× higher cardiovascular event risk. This has long been recognized by the National Cholesterol Education Program report in the United States and European guidelines, both labeling type 2 diabetes mellitus a coronary artery disease (CAD) equivalent. Although ever since the original publication by Haffner et al suggesting that asymptomatic patients with diabetes mellitus have the same cardiovascular risk as patients with previous myocardial infarction, a controversy has been raging as to whether indeed all patients with diabetes mellitus are equal.