Book excerpt: Diabetes continues to spread worldwide. Traditionally diabetes in adults has not been considered a serious life-threatening disease. This attitude needs to be changed, however, since the complications associated with the adult form of diabetes affect almost every organ system. The high morbidity and mortality of Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM) suggest that current treatment strategies are unsatisfactory, pointing to an urgent need for new therapeutic approaches. This volume provides a comprehensive description and evaluation of recently obtained and previously unpublished data written by leading experts in the field, together with a discussion of antidiabetics under development and new approaches for the management of type 2 diabetes.