Diabetic microvascular disease normally leads to complications, such as diabetic neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) “the direct and indirect effects on the human vascular tree are the major source of morbidity and mortality in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.” Clinical treatment and prevention techniques are expanding, however.
The chance of developing a complication from diabetic microvascular disease depends on the severity of hyperglycemia and the duration of time a person has had diabetes. The most common complication of diabetic microvascular disease may be retinopathy. It is currently responsible for 10,000 new cases of blindness in the United States each year. Most patients with type 1 diabetes develop some degree of retinopathy within 20 years of diagnosis, and retinopathy may develop as early as 7 years before type 2 diabetes is even diagnosed in some patients.
The leading cause of renal failure in the United States is diabetic nephropathy, another complication of diabetic microvacular disease. It can occur in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Prevention is the best treatment for diabetic nephropathy and other complications of diabetes. There are strong associations between the development of nephropathy and uncontrolled glucose levels in diabetes. Patients with diabetic neuropathy benefit most from aggressive treatment of elevated glucose levels and antihypertensive drugs (drugs used to treat high blood pressure).
Another complication of diabetic microvascular disease is diabetic neuropathy, which is the presence of nerve dysfunction in people with diabetes. Like other complications of diabetes it is also proportional to the magnitude and the duration of high blood sugar levels in diabetes, however there does seem to be some genetic predisposition to developing it. More than 80% of the amputations occur after an injury or foot ulceration that results from diabetic neuropathy, according to DiabetesJournals.org.
Other Microvascular Complications
The central mechanism in diabetic microvascular disease is atherosclerosis, which is the narrowing of arterial walls throughout the body. It is thought to result from injury to or inflammation of the arterial walls. This increases the risks of the vascular occlusion (valves being blocked or closed) or cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes. Therefore, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in diabetes is relatively high. Cardiovascular disease is the primary cause of death in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It is also the greatest component of health care expenditures among diabetics.
