A state of damage to multiple systems in the body due to a prolonged state of hyperglycemia. We call this the chronic complications of diabetes.
The main macrovascular complications are cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetic peripheral vasculopathy. The common cardiovascular diseases are mainly coronary heart disease, such as angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, and coronary heart failure. The prevalence of cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients is two to four times higher than that in people without diabetes. Common cerebrovascular disease is dominated by cerebral infarction, and the incidence of cerebral thrombosis is also significantly higher in diabetics than in the non-diabetic population by a factor of four or more.
Diabetic microangiopathy is typically characterized by diabetic retinopathy, which is staged according to the extent of neovascularization and exudation and hemorrhage in the fundus. Diabetic neuropathy, in which erectile dysfunction in diabetic patients is caused by diabetic microangiopathy causing neurological hypofunction and reduced local blood supply in diabetic patients with erectile difficulties. Diabetic neurogenic bladder is also a manifestation of diabetic neuropathy in the bladder, in which patients present with decreased urge to urinate, increased bladder capacity, decreased frequency of urination, prolonged intervals, urinary retention and stress incontinence simultaneously due to lesions in the associated multiple nerves. Diabetic nephropathy is also the most common microangiopathy in diabetes mellitus and can manifest as a hyperfiltration state of the kidneys, microproteinuria, persistent proteinuria, azotemia, and finally progression to uremia.