Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus for Over 79 Years

Abstract

An 88-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes mellitus for over 79 years is presented and the characteristics of patients with extremely long duration type 1 diabetes mellitus are discussed. Data about extremely long duration type 1 diabetics including that from the United Kingdom Golden Years Cohort and the Joslin Clinic Medalist Program Cohort are presented. The role of an elevated HDL cholesterol as either a marker for benign disease or as a protective factor is discussed. Our patient is thin, has high HDL cholesterol, late-onset diabetic retinopathy, only modest renal disease compatible with her age, and does not have tight glucose control. These features appear to be relatively typical for this patient cohort.




J Endocrinol Metab. 2011;1(1):38-40
doi: https://doi.org/10.4021/jem102e