title: Diabetes: an overview.
abstract: This article provides an overview of diabetes mellitus as background for better understanding metabolic concerns in patients with severe mental illness. The diagnosis, classification, epidemiology, and risk factors for type 1 and type 2 diabetes are reviewed. The article then discusses the pathogenesis of diabetes and describes the mechanisms involved in impaired insulin secretion and insulin resistance. The major complications of diabetes--renal failure, retinopathy, neuropathy, and cardiovascular disease--are described and the effectiveness of treatment in reducing these complications is considered. Current treatment strategies for type 1 and type 2 diabetes, including diet and lifestyle changes and available pharmacological agents, are then discussed.
mesh_terms: D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans