Pathogenesis and Management of Human Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most serious problems in internal medicine. Furthermore, the cost of this disease to society is enormous. In the last few years, exciting advances have been made in our understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, in patient care and in pancreas and islet transplantation. However, the everyday treatment of patients with diabetes is still far from ideal: fluctuations of plasma glucose level are not even close to the physiological pattern. The need for ideal regulation of plasma glucose level in these patients is mandatory; inadequate glucose control may lead to the development of numerous complications in almost all systems of the organism. This volume summarizes some recent advances in the major fields of diabetes research, transplantation and patient treatment.