Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the most challenging health problems in the 21st century, projected to affect 700 million people by 2045. In the last 15 years, the number of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes increased by 45%, and those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes increased by 95%. The most devastating effects of diabetes are its chronic complications, which confer a high risk of morbidity and mortality and an increased health system cost burden. Although there is increased awareness and new therapeutic options in the treatment of diabetes, it is still the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults, the leading cause of kidney failure and dialysis, and the leading cause of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations.

This Special Issue, featuring thirteen research articles, three reviews, and one systematic review, presents the latest knowledge of diabetes and its complications. Topics include the connection between circulating isthmin-1 levels and diabetes, material technologies for improved diabetic foot ulcer treatment, depression and stress in type 2 diabetes, metformin in gestational diabetes, safety of semaglutide and tirzepatide in type 2 diabetes, and aging-related biomarkers in diabetic nephropathy. The Special Issue also explores associations between serum cytokines and growth factors with time in range, as well as progression of diabetic kidney disease and gastrointestinal symptoms in subjects with type 1 diabetes.

This new knowledge promises to enhance diagnosis, reduce the rate of progression of diabetes-related chronic complications, and may form the basis for future therapeutic approaches.