Diabetes And Laboratory Medicine

It can be argued that diabetes mellitus is the disease that best demonstrates the inter-relationship between biochemistry and metabolic medicine. The consequences of an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin profoundly affect intermediary metabolism, leading to acute metabolic crises and long-term medical complications. The aim of this book is to explore the role of the laboratory in the diagnosis and management of diabetes and its complications, as well as to explain the fundamental changes to the biochemical pathways and how they are manifested clinically. Actual clinical cases are incorporated to illustrate this. There are chapters on the aetiology, diagnosis and management of diabetes as well as hyperglycaemic comas, hypoglycaemia and diabetes in pregnancy. The book is timely with the recent release of the United Kingdom National Service Frameworks for diabetes.