ABSTRACT
Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases. In the United States today, 5.9% of the population has diabetes, or about 15.7 million people, and about 800,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. Although most have type 2 diabetes, and are the focus of this chapter, type 1 diabetes is a very significant disease and is a major health issue for the population. Of those with diabetes, it is estimated that it has been diagnosed in 10.3 million persons, whereas it has yet be diagnosed in the remaining 5.4 million persons. Most patients in whom it is undiagnosed have type 2 diabetes. The diagnostic criteria have changed recently with diagnosis based on a fasting plasma glucose level. This should increase the proportion of those in whom diabetes is diagnosed.
