Therefore, in this study we set out to estimate the prevalence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD), left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) and LVH as measured by echo in a population of patients with type 2 diabetes and no history or symptoms of CVD, and further, in the same population, to test if BNP and urinary albumin excretion rate (AER) are related to LVSD, LVDD and left ventricular mass index (LVM) independently of each other, age, sex, diabetes duration, systolic blood pressure, metabolic control, lipid levels, body mass index and kidney function. The gene discussed is NPPB; the disease is diabetes mellitus.