ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Diabetes and its complications is one of the major disorders worldwide, and the number of patients with this disease is increasing worldwide (1). According to an estimation of the World Health Organization (WHO) the number of diabetic patients will double between 1990 and the beginning of the next millennium. The large majority of these patients consists of type 2 or non-insulin-dependent (NIDDM) patients. The life expectancy and quality of life of these patients is no longer determined by the acute complications of diabetes, but the development of vascular complications. Thus, diabetes is the main cause for blindness in adults; most of the patients who undergo dialysis or kidney transplantation are diabetic, the cardiovascular risk is two-to fourfold increased when compared with the nondiabetic population (2,3).
