Diabetes mellitus and its complications are clinical conditions of growing importance both from the clinical as well as epidemiological standpoint. The relevance of diabetes at clinical and individual level is given by its lifethreatening acute complications and, especially, by its chronic complications affecting several organs and systems, with increased risk for ocular, renal, cardiac, cerebral, nervous and peripheral vascular diseases. The high prevalence of diabetes in many developed countries or in special ethnic groups, entailing premature disability and mortality, points to its relevance at population level. It is, therefore, mandatory for both the specialist and the practitioner to be acquainted with the pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical manifestations and, above all, therapy.
