Prevention of Microvascular Complications of Diabetes

<p>Global prevalence estimates from 2019 suggest that the number of people diagnosed with diabetes was 463 million and is projected to increase to 700 million by the year 2045.<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889852921000396?showall=true&via=ihub#bib1" target="_blank">1</a> The growing prevalence and increase in life-years spent with diabetes has a significant impact on the development of macrovascular and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/microvascular-complication" target="_blank">microvascular complications</a> and places a huge societal and financial burden on almost every <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/health-care" target="_blank">health care</a> system in the world.<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889852921000396?showall=true&via=ihub#bib2" target="_blank">2</a> Although, declining trends in cardiovascular complications, cardiovascular-related mortality and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/leg-amputation" target="_blank">lower extremity amputation</a> rates have been reported over the last 2 decades, particularly from high-income countries including Europe and North America, the global burden of cardiovascular disease, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/amaurosis" target="_blank">blindness</a> due to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/retinopathy" target="_blank">retinopathy</a>, and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in people with diabetes compared with those without has increased alarmingly.<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889852921000396?showall=true&via=ihub#bib3" target="_blank">3</a> The “DISCOVER” observational study program from 2014 to 2019 reported that the global crude prevalence of microvascular complications in people with type 2 diabetes was 18.8%, being highest in Europe (23.5%) and lowest in Africa (14.5%).<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889852921000396?showall=true&via=ihub#bib4" target="_blank">4</a> Among individuals with a median duration of type 2 diabetes of 4.1 years, the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy was 7.7%, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/chronic-kidney-disease" target="_blank">chronic kidney disease</a> 5.0%, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/albuminuria" target="_blank">albuminuria</a> 4.3%. </p>