On-site PhD conferral Rianneke de Ritter

Keywords: Sex differences, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, body composition

"Sex Differences in Causes and Consequences of Type 2 Diabetes"

Diabetes is a stronger risk factor for cardiovascular disease in women than in men. In this thesis, sex differences in causes and consequences of type 2 diabetes, with a specific focus on cardiovascular disease, were investigated. The goal was to better understand these differences and, eventually, to optimize health service delivery for both women and men. Supported by our results, the observed sex differences in diabetes-associated cardiovascular disease may be caused by a greater deterioration in cardiovascular risk factors, even before the clinical onset of diabetes. Moreover, our data is consistent with the concept that there is a sex-specific effect of body composition on the development of type 2 diabetes. Whether these sex differences explain the observed differences in diabetes-associated cardiovascular disease requires further study. There were no sex differences observed in the association of type diabetes with microvascular disease, mental health aspects or quality of life.

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