According to the National Institute of Health, 40 percent to 45 percent of Americans diagnosed with diabetes already have some stage of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy, damage to the retina caused by leaky blood vessels, is a major cause of blindness in people with diabetes and is one of the most feared diabetic complications.

Children who have had an episode of diabetic ketoacidosis, a common complication of diabetes, may have persistent memory problems.

A research team from Taiwan reported a 41-year-old man with poorly controlled diabetic mellitus who developed superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome due to rapid weight loss. The importance of this case report is that SMA syndrome should be ruled out in diabetic patients with body weight loss and gastrointestinal symptoms.

Diabetes mellitus-associated coronary artery disease is assuming epidemic proportions, especially in western countries. Both coronary revascularization and medical management have improved tremendously over the last decade and the respective role in the diabetic population is not well defined. This aspect was investigated in the BARI 2D study.

A study from Canada published this week in PLoS Medicine suggests an association between tighter glycemic control and an increased risk of a motor vehicle crash in diabetic adults.

The heir to the Johnson & Johnson health care products fortune, died of diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition caused by lack of insulin and sky-high blood sugar. Johnson had been an insulin-dependent diabetic since childhood.

More than 18-million people in the United States, or 6.3% of the population, have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Unfortunately, when someone becomes diabetic, chronic non-healing wounds often develop, most often in the legs and feet. These wounds can be uncomfortable and even life-threatening. There are many types of treatments.

(American Gastroenterological Association) The anti-diabetic medication metformin is associated with a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer in diabetics.

The Society for Vascular Surgery® (SVS) and the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) announce formation of a strategic collaboration to help advance the care of patients with critical limb ischemia, especially in the diabetic population. The multidisciplinary team approach was outlined during a meeting between leaders of both associations in August.

This month's Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, includes a research review of the effects of Vitamins C and E and magnesium on diabetic retinopathy and findings from the first large study of vision problems in Hispanic and African-American infants and young children.

Officials at a New York school have refused to allow a diabetic student to bring his service dog to school.

Elevated levels of the enzyme arginase contribute to vascular eye damage and Medical College of Georgia researchers say therapies to normalize its levels could halt progression of potentially blinding diseases such as diabetic retinopathy.

Scientists in Massachusetts are reporting new evidence that certain high blood pressure drugs may be useful in preventing and treating diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of vision loss in people with diabetes. The study, the largest to date on proteins in the retina, could lead to new ways to prevent or treat the sight-threatening disease, they say.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has announced that its first-in-class farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist INT-747 has met the primary endpoint of improved insulin sensitization in a 6 week double blind, placebo controlled trial in type 2 diabetic patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Compared with patients with moderately controlled glucose levels, diabetic patients who have heart failure and either too high or too low glucose levels may be at increased risk of death, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report published in the current issue of Journal of the American College of Cardiology.