Banting Lecture 2001

Readers of this journal do not need to be reminded of the explosive increase in obesity/type 2 diabetes syndromes and their attendant staggering public health costs that are currently afflicting developed countries. Because of this alarming development and what it portends for the future if left unchecked, the American Diabetes Association, together with its counterparts around the world, as well as the World Health Organization, are faced with the daunting challenge of finding answers to two huge questions. First, what is the pathophysiological basis for these disorders? Second, why is their rate of appearance accelerating so rapidly at this particular juncture of human history, and what, if anything, can we…