ABSTRACT
Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome of blood glucose elevation (hyperglycemia) due to multiple defects including decrease or loss of insulin secretion by beta cells in the pancreas or insulin resistance in the periphery, among others (1,2). Diabetes remains epidemic worldwide, with a rise in cases from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014, with an expected number of 600 million by 2035. The global prevalence now stands at 8.5% in adults. Diabetes is still a major cause of heart attack, stroke, lower limb amputation, blindness, kidney disease, and neuropathy (1). The WHO estimates that diabetes was the 7th leading cause of death in 2016. Risk factors include family history, prediabetes, overweight or obese, 45 years of age and older, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and African-American, American Indian, or Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, or certain Asian-American groups (2). This chapter focuses on mitochondrial dysfunction as related to diabetes and diabetes complications rather than the more traditional risk factor discussion.
