COMPLICATIONS AND PROGNOSIS OF CHILDREN WITH IDDM

There was a marked reduction in the prevalence of complications in, an d mortality status of, Japanese children with IDDM in the past 20 year s. It is apparent that the improvement in medical treatment as well as social circumstance surrounding childhood diabetes in recent years co ntributed greatly to this change. However, when one compares Japanese data with those for Europe or the U.S., the present status is not yet satisfactory. In order to prevent the early development of diabetic co mplications followed by premature death associated with IDDM, an evenl y distributed high-level medical system throughout Japan is required i n addition to tight control of diabetes and patient education. Moreove r, a population-based ongoing IDDM registry should be established from which risk factors for the progression of complications could be iden tified.