Effect of diabetes on some primitive reflexes

Primitive reflexes (PRs) are present in newborns; they disappear as the bra in matures and increase in frequency in healthy elderly individuals. Primit ive reflexes are more frequent in some neurological disorders than in age-m atched controls. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dia betes on some PRs. We examined three PRs (glabellar tap, snout and palmomen tal reflexes) in 376 subjects: 111 normal age-matched controls, 60 patients with cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and 205 patients with type 2 diabetes m ellitus. The latter patients were divided into three groups: (1) diabetics without neurological complications (D); (2) diabetics with cerebrovascular disease (D-CVD); and (3) diabetics with polyneuropathy (D-PN). The frequenc y of PRs was increased in CVD, unchanged in D-CVD (except palmomental) and greatly reduced in D and D-PN. It is possible that the vascular lesions in perforating arteries of the pens in diabetic subjects, previously studied i n some pathological reports, can account for the reduced occurrence of prim itive reflex responses.