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Diabetes and its complications may be caused by inadequate circulation. A new concept
Insights
Vascular complications in diabetes may not be complications but rather an intrinsic part of the disease. Poor circulation to the pancreas might be a root cause of diabetes and its vascular issues.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Cardiovascular Medicine
Background:
- Vascular complications of diabetes manifest inconsistently among patients.
- Strict diabetes management does not always prevent vascular issues, suggesting a different underlying cause.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the hypothesis that vascular pathology is a component of diabetes, not a complication.
- To investigate if inadequate pancreatic circulation is an etiological factor in diabetes development.
Main Methods:
- Observational analysis of patient outcomes and disease progression.
- Conceptual review of existing data on diabetes and vascular pathology.
Main Results:
- Observed inconsistency in vascular complication development, irrespective of glycemic control.
- Proposed that inadequate circulation to pancreatic islets could be the primary cause of diabetes.
Conclusions:
- Vascular pathology may be an inherent aspect of diabetes, potentially preceding clinical diagnosis.
- Defective pancreatic circulation is a plausible etiological factor for diabetes and its associated vascular manifestations.
Abstract:
Students of diabetes have noted that the so-called vascular complications of the disease appear with little or no consistency. Uncontrolled patients may have no vascular problems. Contrarywise obsessive compulsive individuals who follow every dietary regimen perfectly and take their prescriptions faithfully may have horrendous vascular difficulties. These experiences brought me to the conclusion that the 'complications' were really a component of the disease rather than the result of it. In an effort to find a unified concept of the disease it seemed reasonable to conclude that inadequate circulation to the islets may be a cause of the chemical constellation that we call diabetes. Vascular pathology may appear haphazardly in various arteries. Thus some will develop cerebrovascular disease, others coronary manifestations while still other patients will experience peripheral vascular symptoms. Is it not possible that defective circulation to the pancreas might be an aetiological factor in the development of diabetes? These observations lend credence to the concept that arterial pathology may actually precede the appearance of clinical diabetes.