| Diabetes is a metabolic disease associated with loss of normal glycaemic control, either due to pancreatic islet cell failure ( type 1 or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) or to peripheral insulin resistance (type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus). Type 2 is now a major worldwide public health problem due to its associations with obesity which has nearly doubled in many countries over the last 10 years (WHO 1998). Though the metabolic disorder of diabetes affects both glucose, lipid and protein metabolism, diagnostically and prognostically it may be delineated by the level of its glycaemic control. A focus on this parameter remains central to its clinical management. |