Introduction [to Journal of Hypertension, Volume 25, Suppl 1]

The global epidemic of diabetes is gathering pace, and with it the attendant burden of vascular disease. It is now increasingly recognized that diabetes is at least as much a vascular disease as it is a metabolic disorder, with a wide range of macrovascular and microvascular complications that account for most of the morbidity and mortality, particularly in individuals with type 2 diabetes. The papers presented in this symposium highlight the double jeopardy suffered by patients with type 2 diabetes, both macrovascular and microvascular disease in full measure, and the interaction between abnormalities of large vessels and of the microcirculation in the pathogenesis of the characteristic vascular burden.