Nearly two decades ago, diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) emerged as major global health threats, with research interest steadily increasing. Despite ongoing in-depth studies in the DM+CVD field, a systematic analysis of overall development trends and future hotspots remains lacking. This study employs bibliometric methods, utilizing CiteSpace and VOSviewer software to analyze and visualize 5,505 DM+CVD-related publications from 2005 to May 2024. The findings reveal a rapid growth trend in the field, with publications peaking at 751 in 2022, and the United States and China as major contributing countries. Keyword analysis identifies research hotspots including oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and heart failure. Highly cited literature analysis shows that the relationship between DM+CVD and obesity, disease mechanisms, treatment strategies, lifestyle interventions, and novel drugs are primary research themes. Analysis of highly cited literature from the past three years indicates that the application of SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists, the association between metabolic abnormalities and DM+CVD, precise management of heart failure and cardiomyopathy, and in-depth epidemiological studies are current and future research priorities. This study not only reveals research hotspots and development trends in the DM+CVD field but also provides important references for optimizing research resource allocation and promoting multidisciplinary collaboration.