Treating the Complications of Diabetes-2012

Summary

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of mortality in the United States with 23.7 deaths per 100,000. In fact, the death risk among people with diabetes is about twice that of people without diabetes of similar age, with heart disease and renal failure being the most common causes. In total an estimated 25.8 million children and adults in the United States (8.3% of the population) have diabetes. In New York State, the estimated number of adults with diabetes is over one million four hundred thousand. Alarmingly, the current costs of diabetes are estimated at $159.5 billion including medical costs of $105.7 billion and indirect costs of $53.8 billion.

With the number of diabetes patients and the treatment costs continuing to rise each year, the need for focused patient care related to diabetes is clearly evident. Although the number of physicians, both primary care and specialists, has increased over the past ten years, the ratio of physicians to patients is still significantly lower in the greater Rochester region (Chemung, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, and Yates counties) relative to the overall New York State ratio. Notably, the number of specialists practicing endocrinology in our region has actually decreased over the past 5 years increasing the risk of ineffective patient care.

At the conclusion of this program, attendees should be able to:

• Identify and evaluate the cardiac risk factors of patients with T2DM
• Summarize the types of diabetic neuropathies and the alternatives for diagnosis and treatment of peripheral neuropathy
• Identify situations where utilization of PKC inhibitors is appropriate for treatment of diabetic retinopathy
• Summarize new evidence regarding the relationship between Fatty Liver and T2DM
• Describe recent advances in the understanding of diabetic nephropathy and implications for treatment