Michael Stern and associates assessed carotid wall thickness by ultrasonography on all subjects at FU1 and planned to repeat this at FU2. They measured advanced glycation endproduct (AGE)-modified apolipoprotein B and a panel of inflammatory risk factors (serum albumin, serum amyloid A, alpha1-acid glycoprotein, and C-reactive protein) on stored contingency specimens from baseline and FU1 in order to determine if these factors predicted accelerated thickening of carotid walls and/or the development of type II diabetes. They also quantified the extent to which carotid wall thickness and ECG documented myocardial infarction preceded clinical diabetes as predicted by the "common soil" hypothesis, i.e., the hypothesis that both type II diabetes and atherosclerosis have common genetic and environmental antecedents.