International Journal of General Medicine (Mar 2020)

Demographic and Clinical Factors Associated with Development of Type 2 Diabetes: A Review of the Literature

  • Pinchevsky Y,
  • Butkow N,
  • Raal FJ,
  • Chirwa T,
  • Rothberg A

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 13
pp. 121 – 129

Abstract

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Yacob Pinchevsky,1 Neil Butkow,1 Frederick J Raal,2 Tobias Chirwa,3 Alan Rothberg4 1Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; 2Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; 3Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; 4School of Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaCorrespondence: Yacob Pinchevsky 7 York Road, Parktown, Johannesburg 2193, South AfricaTel +27 82 837 4082Fax +27 11 026 4700Email [email protected]: Diabetes mellitus is a complex and chronic condition that requires lifelong management and interaction with a healthcare system. Failure to control risk factors through preventive care may lead to a host of diabetes-related complications. Underperforming healthcare systems and poor awareness among the general population/healthcare professionals has been suggested as reasons why so many patients remain undiagnosed. Due to the asymptomatic nature of early and even intermediate diabetes mellitus, several years may pass without any diagnosis before complications begin to manifest. Other factors include age, gender, ethnicity, education, marital and unemployment status which may also increase the risk of developing morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes mellitus. This review summarizes the current demographic risk factors and clinical characteristics associated with diabetes mellitus. A literature search was conducted using PubMed, MEDLINE, and Sabinet by using the following search terms: diabetes mellitus, risk factors, characteristics and complications.Keywords: diabetes mellitus, risk factors, characteristics, complications

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