TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Diabetes A1 - Zgibor, Janice C. A1 - Dorman, Janice S. A1 - Orchard, Trevor J. A2 - Wallace, Robert B. PY - 2017 T2 - Maxcy-Rosenau-Last Public Health and Preventive Medicine, 15e AB - Diabetes is an important chronic disease both in terms of the number of persons affected and the considerable associated morbidity and early mortality. In this review we will focus on the epidemiology and public health implications of diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic disease in which there is a deficiency in the action of the hormone insulin. This may result from a quantitative deficiency of insulin, an abnormal insulin level, resistance to its action, or a combination of deficits. Two major forms of the disease are recognized: type 1 diabetes (formerly referred to as insulin-dependent diabetes) which comprises about 10% of all cases, and type 2 diabetes (formerly referred to as non-insulin-dependent diabetes), which accounts for about 90% of the cases. Type 2 diabetes may occasionally occur as a result of other diseases such as acromegaly and Cushing's syndrome. Metabolic disorders such as hemochromatosis, can also cause the disease. Diabetes can also be drug induced, for example, by steroids and possibly by the thiazide diuretics and oral contraceptives. Finally, diabetes may occur secondary to disease processes directly affecting the pancreas, such as cancer or chronic pancreatitis, which destroy the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreatic islets (of Langerhans). However, these are relatively rare causes of diabetes. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Medical CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/16 UR - accessbiomedicalscience.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1141961164 ER -