Understanding Diabetes explains diabetes in an easily understandable manner. Written from a biochemical perspective, this book is written for clinical chemists, pharmaceutical chemists, medical technologists, medical students, residents and physicians. Understanding Diabetes explores technical concepts in easily understandable terms using a glossary, footnotes and thorough explanations of what otherwise would be complex terminology and concepts. It presents diabetes as a disease that is global and is becoming considerably more prevalent. The chapter on the history of diabetes shows the advances in the understanding of diabetes from its characterization in ancient Egypt of 3400 BCE in the Ebers Papyrus to the early 1900's. A primer chapter on glucose metabolism is presented. This chapter is referred to in later chapters in the text. It is instrumental in understanding the disease. The defects that have been found in glucose and lipid metabolism underlie the mechanisms by which diabetes causes its symptoms. In later chapters the complications of diabetes are presented as well as classification, genetic factors, detection and monitoring, treatment and how persons afflicted with this disease can cope with the disease.