Microangiopathies are diseases affecting small blood vessels – usually capillaries – and are most common in diabetes patients and usually referred to as diabetic microvascular complications9.

   Such microvascular complications can severely damage eyes (retinopathy), kidneys (nephropathy) and nerves (neuropathy):

Diabetic Retinopathy is a microvascular complication of diabetes, its prevalence increasing with the duration of the disease. It is associated with diabetic macular oedema, considered the principal cause of vision loss in working-age diabetic patients, whatever their gender.

 

 Diabetic Nephropathy – or diabetic kidney disease – is another microvascular complication of diabetes, again its prevalence increasing with the duration of the disease. Associated with the chronic deterioration of kidney function characterized by a protein loss in the urine, it is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease.

 

 Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy – the most common microvascular complication of diabetes – is also more frequent in long-term diabetic patients. Associated with limb and foot disorders, it is the main cause of disability due to foot ulceration and amputation, gait disturbance and fall-related injury.

References:

  1. Vujosevic S, Aldington SJ, Silva P, et al. Screening for diabetic retinopathy: new perspectives and challenges. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2020; 8:337.
  2. Schoenfeld ER, Greene JM, Wu SY, Leske MC. Patterns of adherence to diabetes vision care guidelines: baseline findings from the Diabetic Retinopathy Awareness Program. Ophthalmology 2001; 108:563.
  3. Olivarius Nde F, Andreasen AH, Keiding N, Mogensen CE. Epidemiology of renal involvement in newly-diagnosed middle-aged and elderly diabetic patients. Cross-sectional data from the population-based study “Diabetes Care in General Practice”, Denmark. Diabetologia 1993; 36:1007.
  4. Di Vincenzo A, Bettini S, Russo L, et al. Renal structure in type 2 diabetes: facts and misconceptions. J Nephrol 2020; 33:901.
  5. Pop-Busui R, Boulton AJ, Feldman EL, et al. Diabetic Neuropathy: A Position Statement by the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care 2017; 40:136.