Prospects for research in diabetes mellitus.
Diabetes mellitus is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and morbidities resulting from diabetes-related complications such as retinopathy, kidney disease, and limb amputation cause a huge burden to the national health care system. Identification of the genetic components of type 1 and type 2 diabetes is the most important area of research because elucidation of the diabetes genes will influence all efforts toward a mechanistic understanding of the disease, its complications, and its treatment, cure, and prevention. Also, the link between obesity and type 2 diabetes mandates a redoubled effort to understand the genetic and behavioral contributions to obesity.
Olefsky
J M
JM
Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. jolefsky@ucsd.edu
D000818:Animals; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D012106:Research / Q000639:trends*