If untreated or uncontrolled, diabetes will cause many long-term and acute complications, including cardiovascular disease, retinal damage, diabetic foot (a common cause of amputation in China), kidney damage, and diabetic ketoacidosis, an acute condition that is lethal, Xu said.

Since its establishment, the society has been conducting research programs and developing diabetes diagnosis and treatment guidance that is suitable to Chinese society, to improve Chinese doctors’ care service for diabetics, as well as to improve Chinese people’s awareness of the threat and promote a healthy lifestyle to prevent and control the disease, said Weng Jianping, the society president.

The society also organizes regular training programs for doctors in rural areas, Wen said. From Oct 5 to 8, thousands of doctors from across China and abroad attended the society’s annual conference, and the society organized 240 academic lectures and seminars.

World-renowned diabetes experts, including Leif Groop, a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science, and K. Sreekumaran Nair from the Mayo Clinic in the United States, spoke at the conference.

The society also announced that Diabetes/Metabolism: Research and Reviews, a top scientific journal based in Italy, will be its official English-language journal.