LONG-TERM COMPLICATIONS IN NEWLY-DIAGNOSED SRI-LANKAN PATIENTS WITH TYPE-2 DIABETES-MELLITUS

We screened 597 newly-diagnosed diabetic patients (201 women) mean +/- SD age 42.3+/-6.2 years to determine the prevalence of diabetic compli cations; 22% presented because of symptoms of diabetes, 27% were diagn osed when hyperglycaemia was discovered at a health screening, and 36% were diagnosed while being treated for intercurrent illness. Neuropat hy was present in 25.1%, nephropathy in 29%, retinopathy in 15%, coron ary vascular disease in 21%, stroke in 5.6%, peripheral vascular disea se in 4.8%, hypertension in 23%, obesity in 16%, central obesity in 21 .3%, hypercholesterolaemia in 11%, hypertriglyceridaemia in 14%, and l ow high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in 12%. The prevalence of coro nary vascular disease, hypertension, stroke, neuropathy and retinopath y at the time of diagnosis were higher in our patients than in Caucasi an and Indo-Asian patients in the UK. Both a genetic predisposition to develop complications, and exposure to a longer duration of asymptoma tic hyperglycaemia due to poor access to adequate health care, may con tribute to the high frequency of complications at diagnosis. Since com plications are already present at diagnosis, there is a case for imple menting primary prevention programmes combined with screening for diab etes in high-risk groups.