The Sorbitol Pathway and the Complications of Diabetes

Abstract

SINCE the introduction of insulin therapy 50 years ago, ketoacidosis and infections are no longer the main problems in the care of diabetic patients. Today, the diabetic patient faces the development of cataracts, retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and accelerated generalized atherosclerosis. The morbidity and incapacity associated with these complications are staggering^{1 2 3}: diabetes is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, and 60 per cent of the death certificates mentioning renal or cardiovascular disease carry an associated diagnosis of diabetes.¹ Although the literature is divided on the role of good control of diabetes as a factor in reducing the . . .