Diabetic Atherosclerosis.

Experts once believed that atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, developed when too much cholesterol clogged arteries with fatty deposits called plaques. ... Researchers have discovered how diabetes, by driving inflammation and slowing blood flow, dramatically accelerates atherosclerosis.Mar 17, 2008 Past studies had shown diabetes to worsen atherosclerosis, but its exact link to related inflammation had remained unclear. The current results provides the first mechanistic description of how diabetes takes away the ability of fast blood flow force to protect blood vessels, arguing that it does so by interfering with ERK5 and its signaling partners.