Management of diabetic nephropathy: epidemiology, pathogenesis of nephropathy and factors influencing progression

Diabetes mellitus is a major scourge of the modern world and the complications of this disease are important causes of morbidity and mortality. It is expected that the prevalence of this disease will increase several fold in all regions of the world over the coming decades. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (initial resistance to endogenous insulin, usually found in obese adults) is about nine times greater than that of type 1 diabetes (absence of insulin, usually found in children and young adults) and thus the burden of this disease is mainly of patients with type 2 diabetes. The many complications of diabetes mellitus include cardiovascular disease, retinopathy, nephropathy, peripheral neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease. These complications appear in patients with either type of diabetes. This monograph will be devoted to the discussion of diabetic nephropathy (DN).