Lifetime Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among Individuals With and Without Diabetes Stratified by Obesity Status in the Framingham Heart Study

OBJECTIVE—We assessed the lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among individuals with and without obesity and diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Participants were drawn from the original and offspring cohorts of the Framingham Heart Study. Lifetime (30-year) risk of CVD was assessed using a modified Kaplan-Meier approach adjusting for the competing risk of death, beginning from age 50 years. RESULTS—Over 30 years, the lifetime risk of CVD among women with diabetes was 54.8% among normal-weight women and 78.8% among obese women. Among normal-weight men with diabetes, the lifetime risk of CVD was 78.6%, whereas it was 86.9% among obese men. CONCLUSIONS—The lifetime risk of CVD among individuals with diabetes is high, and this relationship is further accentuated with increasing adiposity.