ABSTRACT
Diabetes mellitus is the most common metabolic disorder in the United States, affecting
over 20 million persons, and more than 650,000 new cases are diagnosed annually (1,2).
More than 100 million people are affected worldwide; approximately 90% of these have the
non-insulin-dependent type of the disease. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus increases
with advancing age and is estimated to be 20% in Caucasians older than 75 years. Because
of its serious long-term complications, diabetes mellitus has become a major public health
problem (3,4). The sequelae of diabetes mellitus are commonly divided into microvascular
(mainly retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) and macrovascular (atherosclerotic
disease of the coronary, cerebral, and peripheral arterial circulation).
