THE GULF-WAR AND DIABETES-MELLITUS

The Gulf war was a traumatic and stressful event for the inhabitants o f Tel-Aviv and vicinity. The entire population changed its way-of-life . In order to evaluate the influence of the war stress on glucose cont rol, we reviewed the charts of all diabetic patients attending the out patient clinics at the Tel-Aviv Medical Centre, whose weight and glyca ted haemoglobin was determined between 15.1.91 and 2.5.91 (the war per iod), with comparative measurements within 4 1/2 months both before an d after these dates. Sixty-six patients with non-insulin dependent dia betes mellitus (NIDDM) and 16 with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) were examined. During the war, their glycated haemoglobin incr eased by 10.1 to 10.9% and from 9.6 to 10.2%, respectively. Weight inc reased from 76.1 to 77.5 kg in the NIDDM and from 63.2 to 64.7 kg in t he IDDM patients. Both measurements returned to baseline after the war . No correlation was found between the changes in glycated haemoglobin and weight.