[Diabetic complications. Micro and macroangiopathic end-organ damage]

Diabetes-associated sequelae lead to a considerable reduction in the quality of life and conspicuous increase in mortality. Subsequent damage becomes manifest in terms of macroangiopathy as coronary heart disease, peripheral arterial occlusive disease, and cerebrovascular insufficiency. Moreover, there is high risk of diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy entailing the danger of developing chronic renal failure, loss of vision, or diabetic foot syndrome. Although chronic hyperglycemia constitutes a separate risk factor for macro- and microangiopathic complications, associated disorders such as arterial hypertension and hypercholesterinemia increase the mortality risk to a significant extent. Hence, in the past few years, new concepts have been developed for improving the diagnosis, therapy, and long-term care of people with diabetes to include diligent treatment of concomitant risk factors in addition to maintaining near-normal blood glucose levels. This optimized medical care can improve the quality of life and prognosis of patients with diabetes mellitus.