INCREASED PREVALENCE OF UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS IN LONG-TERM TYPE-1 DIABETES-MELLITUS

Using a validated postal questionnaire, we investigated the frequency of 24 gastrointestinal symptoms during the previous 3 months in a coho rt of 110 young adult patients (54 males and 56 females, mean age 37.2 +/- 4.7 years) with onset of Type 1 diabetes mellitus at <16 years of age. They were compared with 210 age- and sex-matched controls (104 m ales and 106 females). The main difference in the frequency of various symptoms between the two groups was a significant increase among the diabetic patients in upper gastrointestinal symptoms, such as loss of appetite (17.8% vs 3.6%, p < 0.001), early satiety (26.8% vs 6.1%, p < 0.001), nausea (22.7% vs 9.1%, p < 0.01) and vomiting (12.2% vs 3.0%, p < 0.01). No difference was noted in the frequency of symptoms from the lower gastrointestinal tract, apart from a significant increase in the feeling of incomplete defaecation (28.6% vs 17.0%, p < 0.04) in t he diabetic patients. Patients with levels of haemoglobin A,, in the h ighest quartile had significantly more gastrointestinal symptoms than other diabetic patients. Further, the prevalence of symptoms was highe r in females than in males. In conclusion, long-term Type 1 diabetes i s accompanied by a markedly increased frequency of upper gastrointesti nal symptoms, mainly in females and patients with poor metabolic contr ol.