Diabetes is a chronic, progressive disorder that affects more than 415 million people all over the world in 2015 according to International Diabetes Federation. The disease is featured with elevated glucose level in the blood, which in turn leads to series of disable or lethal complications. There are two main kinds of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder that human immune system attacks the insulin secreting cell. Patients with type 1 diabetes need lifelong insulin injections. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90-95% of diabetes in all, cause of the disease is unclear, but manifest in growing resistance to insulin. When the pancreas cannot produce more insulin to overcome the resistance, there will be raised blood glucose level. A large proportion of type 2 diabetes are under-diagnosed until development of some complications. Uncontrolled high blood sugar level could lead to damages of blood vessels and nerves, resulting in cardiovascular disease, blindness, kidney failure and lower-limb amputation. The complications can be prevented by good control of blood glucose levels.
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a lethal disease marked by adverse remodeling within small pulmonary arteries and progressive pulmonary vascular constriction leading to right ventricular (RV) heart failure and death; It’s tough to treat, and patients could not survive more than 3 years. It is a rare disease in US and EU, symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea) especially during exercise, chest pain, and fainting episodes. The exact cause of PAH is unknown and although treatable, there is no known cure for the disease.
