ABSTRACT
Diabetes mellitus is a disease of carbohydrate metabolism characterised by abnormally high blood sugar. People with diabetes live on average 10 years less than those without the disease. It causes blindness, renal failure, peripheral vascular disease leading to gangrene and is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Diabetes is now the leading cause of blindness in the UK; it is the commonest cause of end-stage renal failure, and more than one in two patients with diabetes die early of heart disease or stroke.
