Potentially lethal complications of diabetes mellitus

A case can be made that life expectancy has been prolonged in the diabetic, and some disabling symptoms have been ameliorated by the more recent procedures employed in the management of coronary artery disease and nephropathy. At the same time, the procedures described admittedly present problems and may not be generally available to the vast majority of diabetics. The definitive answer lies in attempting to control diabetes to prevent the development of these and other complications. A number of laboratories are attempting to develop an artificial pancreas or islet transplantation to substitute for the insulin secretory capacity that has been lost or impaired. This is an area of research that demands the highest priority. One cannot be confident that present therapeutic programs can be altered to provide the type of diabetic control necessary for the prevention of complications.