Although diabetes is a metabolic condition, it shares many risk factors with other conditions such as coronary heart disease, chronic kidney disease and stroke. Poorly controlled diabetes is associated with disabling and life-threatening long term complications arising from cumulative damage to small blood vessels or the cardiovascular consequences of the metabolic abnormalities associated with diabetes.

The specific micro-vascular complications of diabetes include:

• Retinopathy - irreversible damage to the retina which can lead to blindness
• Nephropathy - lesions in the kidney which can lead to kidney failure
• Neuropathy - impairment in the nerves which can lead to a loss of sensation, and ultimately amputation

Macrovascular complications include:

• Ischaemic heart disease
• Peripheral vascular disease