ABSTRACT
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as non-insulindependent diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes. Its frequency is increasing throughout the world. In 2000, there were approximately 150 million individuals with the disease, and it is predicted that this number is likely to double by 2025.1
Diabetes is associated with excessive rates of coronary heart disease, stroke, renal disease and renal failure, retinopathy, and blindness, as well as peripheral vascular disease, neuropathy, and amputation. These complications give rise to most of the excess morbidity and mortality attributable to type 2 diabetes.
