Type 2 diabetes mellitus--a multifactorial disease.

Type 2 diabetes is a multifactorial disease caused by both oligo- and polygenic genetic factors as well as non-genetic factors that result from a lack of balance between the energy intake and output and other life style related factors. ADA and WHO have recently reclassified diabetes on both clinical stages and aetiological grounds. There is a lot of data related to the genetics of type 2 diabetes. However, many genes and gene products as well as their interactions with the environment at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and the whole organism levels are still unknown. Changes in the frequency of diabetes occurrence in various urban and rural populations and ethnic groups prove the relationship with the transition to the 'western' life style. Understanding of diabetes pathogenesis is essential to the development of new methods of treatment and strategies of effective prevention of this disease.