Table 1 describes the baseline characteristics of participants according to quintiles of serum CysC concentrations. Participants with higher CysC concentrations were more likely to be older, males, current smokers, and have a higher Townsend deprivation index and BMI. In addition, they tended to have prevalent hypertension, diabetes, and CVD; they also had higher levels of CRP and LDL. The baseline characteristics of the subjects, stratified based on whether cancer death occurred, are presented in Supplementary Table S2. The gene discussed is CRP; the disease is diabetes mellitus.