Classification and laboratory diagnosis of diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a growing problem worldwide, resulting in enormous economic burdens for many countries. Over the years, there had been several changes in the classification of DM, due to its heterogeneous clinical and genetic nature. Though DM is traditionally diagnosed by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), there is a growing practice of utilization of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) as the diagnostic tool in the recent years. This chapter aims to cover the clinical stages, classification and types, as well as the laboratory diagnosis of DM.