Type 2 diabetes mellitus in adolescence: lipid and cardiovascular risk factors.

This review discusses the important consequences of dyslipidemia and arteriosclerosis in type 2 diabetes as documented in studies in adults. It then examines the relatively recent upsurge in type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents, its characteristics, and its importance in directing our attention to cardiovascular risk factors in this age group. The discussion concludes with an examination of the information available about arteriosclerosis in the young and about the treatment of hypercholesterolemia in children and adolescents.