Diabetes and Skin Disease

Abstract

Skin disorders in patients with diabetes mellitus are common but easy to overlook. The spectrum of diabetes-associated skin disease is wide and ranges from benign to life-threatening conditions. Early detection of skin lesion is important since cutaneous manifestation may precede diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Skin disease may be a signal of underlying diabetes mellitus in undiagnosed patients or can represent poorly controlled status in diagnosed patients. If some skin disorders such as diabetic foot can be prevented, considerable socioeconomic burden can be avoided. In addition, control of blood glucose level may help treat some diabetic skin diseases. Therefore, clinicians who manage patients with diabetes mellitus should be familiar with diabetic skin diseases since their diagnosis and early treatment can improve quality of life. This review aims to describe the epidemiology, clinical presentations, diagnosis, and treatment of diabetic skin diseases.