Diabetes : aetiology and pathophysiology of Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

In the Second report of the WHO Expert Committee on Diabetes Mellitus, diabetes mellitus is defined as a state of chronic hyperglycaemia which may result from many environmental and genetic factors, often acting jointly. The major regulator of glucose concentration in the blood is insulin, a hormone synthesized in and secreted by the B-cells of the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Hyperglycaemia may be due to a lack of insulin or to an excess of factors that oppose its action. This imbalance leads to abnormalities of carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism. The major effects of diabetes include characteristic symptoms, ketoacidosis, the progressive development of disease of the capillaries of the kidney and retina, damage to the peripheral nerves, and excessive arteriosclerosis.