This book consists of six articles dealing with the changes in the microcirculation of various organs and systems observed in diabetes. The contents are written by 12 contributors from the United States, England, Denmark, and Australia.
One article discusses the microvascular responses observable in the retina of juvenile diabetics, the most characteristic change being a reversible vasodilation and increased permeability, a reaction pattern compatible with a state of relative tissue hypoxia. The microvascular dilation, the increases in total hemoglobin, and other findings are explained as compensatory adaptations by which the diabetic organism attempts to counteract the deficient erythrocytic oxygen-releasing capacity existing in diabetes. Another article is devoted to the consideration of a number of blood hyperviscosity syndromes that are found in diabetes, such as an elevation of plasma viscosity, aggregation of RBCs, rigidity of RBCs, and abnormal thrombus formation.
The basement membrane of capillaries in diabetes is discussed in several