Which of the following lists both macrovascular and microvascular complications associated with diabetes?

• A. Heart disease, stroke, nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy.
• B. Hyperthyroidism, Cushing’s syndrome, Addison’s disease
• C. Osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, fractures
• D. GERD, peptic ulcer, gastritis

Answer: (A)

Diabetes damages blood vessels in two major ways: large vessels and small vessels. Large-vessel (macrovascular) problems include heart disease and stroke, while small-vessel (microvascular) issues include nephropathy (kidney damage), neuropathy (nerve damage), and retinopathy (eye damage). The list that includes heart disease and stroke plus nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy shows both macrovascular and microvascular complications together, which is exactly what diabetes can cause.

The other options describe conditions not typically recognized as part of the vascular complications of diabetes (for example, endocrine disorders or musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal conditions), so they don’t fit as diabetes-related macro- and microvascular complications.