Of all lower extremity amputations, 40–70% are related to diabetes. In most studies, the incidence of lower leg amputation is estimated to be 5–25/100,000 inhabitants/year: among people with diabetes the number is 6–8/1,000. Lower extremity amputations are usually preceded by a foot ulcer in people with diabetes. The most important factors related to the development of these ulcers are peripheral neuropathy, foot deformities, minor foot trauma, and peripheral vascular disease. The spectrum of foot lesions varies in different regions of the world due to differences in socioeconomic conditions, standards of foot care and quality of footwear. This clinical update is designed to address this condition in a comprehensive way to help the reader take important questions while managing the patient with supportive typical clinical scenarios, with which all readers will be able to identify. Thus it provides an excellent opportunity to widen one’s perspective in this area.

Decision making in instituting insulin therapy is an important aspect of diabetes management. The appropriate insulin regimen for an individual patient should take into account the patient’s lifestyle, age, motivation, general health, self-management skills, and treatment goals. In addition, a discussion of the newer insulins versus older insulin is a much desired topic in the Indian context. Another area of interest is the insulin delivery mechanism in the intensive care units in hospital settings. This CME module is designed to address such questions with supportive typical clinical scenarios, with which all readers will be able to identify. Thus it provides an excellent opportunity to widen one’s perspective in this area.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is classically seen in about 5–8% of the pregnant women. The condition appears to be caused by the same broad spectrum of physiological and genetic peculiarities that characterize diabetes outside of pregnancy. These women with GDM are also otherwise at high risk of having or developing diabetes even when not pregnant. The controversies regarding the diagnosis, management, and prevention of diabetes in pregnancy pose specific problems in clinical practice such as how to clinch the diagnosis, when to introduce therapy, what therapy to introduce, and how to predict the future course of the condition. This book is designed to address such questions with supportive typical clinical scenarios, with which all readers will be able to identify. Thus it provides an excellent opportunity to widen one’s perspective in this area.

Diabetes management, outcomes and prognosis are majorly affected by the lifestyle exercised by the diabetics. Diabetes has significant impact on the different facets of life. These facets tend to get overlooked in the management. The inter-relation of diabetes and marriage, sleep, travel, commute and uneven working hours seem to be trivial part of managing diabetes but are extremely important for a perfect recovery and management of the patient. Patients travelling with diabetes need to consider how to adapt their treatment programs to unfamiliar foods, irregular schedules, and varying amounts of exercise. Diabetes will be involved at every step of married life including vacations, outings, going to the movies, as well as intimate moments. Sleep and diabetes are interconnected. Sleep disorders have a slight but significant impact on diabetes management and it should be focused while attending a diabetic with sleep disorders. Shift workers make a special segment of diabetics, whose glucose monitoring and control need to be tailored in a special manner. With change in circadian rhythm and sleep pattern, diabetes management needs to be adjudged and adjusted. The main risks that arise in driving from having diabetes are hypoglycemia and the long term complications. All these aspects are being thoroughly covered in this book so as to facilitate better management of diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with a greater risk of developing atherosclerotic macrovascular diseases like myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. There is 2- to 4-fold increased risk of atherosclerotic heart disease and stroke in diabetic patients compared to non-diabetic patients. As the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing rapidly, this diabetes related atherosclerotic disease is predicted to be a major public health problem. Atherosclerosis is a complex process and in diabetic patients, it behaves differently with increased lesion progression and severity. This accelerated atherosclerotic process in diabetics is explained on the basis of several risk factors like hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, accelerated formation of advanced glycation end products, increased oxidative stress, and genetic factors. It is difficult to establish precisely the elements responsible for this atherosclerosis in diabetics, but by epidemiological, clinical, and by animal studies, it has been possible to get an idea of this problem in diabetics. Of the several risk factors for atherosclerosis in diabetes, dyslipidemia is the leading one, and an insight into the pathophysiologic relation of isolated triglyceridemia in Indian diabetics with the identification of the targets for control of lipids in diabetes (practical vs. ideal) needs to be well understood by the treating physician. This book is designed to address such issues with supportive typical clinical scenarios, with which the readers will be able to identify. Thus, it provides an excellent opportunity to widen one’s perspective in this area.

The pathogenesis of microvascular complications is complex and multifactorial. Yet, hyperglycemia emerges as the most important single cause, which has been proved by the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). Thus, the importance of protecting the body from hyperglycemia cannot be overstated; 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. Generally, the injurious effects of hyperglycemia are separated into macrovascular complications (coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, and stroke) and microvascular complications (diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy). It is important for physicians to understand the relationship between diabetes and vascular disease because the prevalence of diabetes continues to increase in our country, and the clinical requirements for primary and secondary prevention of these complications are also expanding.

Even though we have many advances in the development of oral hypoglycemic agents, an ideal drug for treating type 2 diabetes is still a distant reality. Today, physicians can choose from a variety of medications targeting numerous facets of disease, but each drug class poses some limitations. The age-old molecules, such as sulfonylureas and biguanides, are still valued because of their well-studied mode of action, safety, tolerability, and predictable pharmacodynamic effects. This book attempts to describe the historical aspects and advances in the arena of oral hypoglycemic agents, extended- and sustained-release formulations of glipizide and metformin (both of which have great promise in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus) as well as evaluates the role of the group in diabetic foot infections.