Diabetes: Advances and Controversies

Abstract

This special issue of Clinical Chemistry focuses on diabetes mellitus. Diabetes has been recognized for more than 3500 years, since an early description in 1552 BCE in the Ebers Papyrus. Surviving texts from the ancient Greeks, Chinese, Indians, and Persians also refer to the disease, which was subsequently named diabetes mellitus. The recent dramatic increase in the worldwide prevalence of diabetes has led to the term “diabetes epidemic.” In the US, the prevalence in the period from 1999 to 2002 was 9.3% (of which 30% was estimated to be undiagnosed) (1). More recent data from 2005 and 2006 indicate that 42 million adults in the US have diabetes (2). Of concern is that in 40% of these individuals (approximately 16 × 106) the disease has not been diagnosed. Current projections are that by 2050, 33% of the US adult population will have diabetes (Fig. 1A) (3). The high prevalence and projected large increases are not confined to the US. The worldwide prevalence of diabetes among adults (20–79 years) is estimated to be currently 6.4% (285 × 106) and will increase to 439 × 106 by 2030 (4). Between 2010 and 2030, the number of affected adults is projected to increase by 69% in developing countries and by 20% in developed countries (Fig. …