Although the risk factors for atherosclerosis did not prove to be statistically significantly correlated with the number of CD34+ cells, there was a borderline significant difference between the patients with and without type II diabetes (Figure 1); as for smoking, there was a significant difference between the active smokers and non-smokers, and a borderline difference between the past smokers and non-smokers, and also between the active and past smokers (Figure 2). Here, CD34 is linked to atherosclerosis.