ARTERIOSCLEROTIC PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE IN DIABETES

Abstract

Two recent trends in the field of diabetes make it of special interest to study the relation of diabetes to arteriosclerosis. One is the increased prominence of arteriosclerosis as a cause of death among diabetic persons. According to Joslin,¹ deaths from this cause have risen threefold, while deaths from diabetic coma have dropped to one sixteenth of their former incidence. This circumstance may in part be due to the fact that many diabetic persons are now surviving long enough to experience advanced arterial changes. The second trend is the tendency of the physician to pay less attention to hyperglycemia and glycosuria in insulin-controlled cases. A higher incidence of premature arteriosclerosis under the newer regimens of liberal diets and insulin might indicate the need for a return to the previously accepted, more rigid standards of control. It is well known that arteriosclerosis occurs with high frequency among diabetic persons. Some