Objectives To evaluate, in a group of patients with long-standing type 1 diabetes (DM1), an association of dyspepsia symptoms with: changes in the gastroduodenal mucosa, infection by Helicobacter pylori, glycemic control, and psychological and nutritional factors. Subjects and methods A total of 32 patient with DM1 were studied (age: 38 ± 9 years; females: 25; diabetes duration: 22 ± 5 years). All patients answered a standardized questionnaire for the evaluation of gastrointestinal symptoms and underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, with gastric […]

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate inflammatory, oxidizing, and reducing responses during the progression of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in patients without chronic complications. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Plasma antioxidant status, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured in 42 patients with T1DM and in 24 healthy subjects. RESULTS: Significant increases were detected in the median values of ROS and IL-6 in patients with T1DM compared with healthy subjects (ROS ~ 4,836 vs. 2,036 RLU/min, respectively; P < .05: IL-6 ~ […]

Pregnancy affects both maternal and fetal metabolism, and even in non-diabetic women, it exerts a diabetogenic effect. Among pregnant women, 2% to 14% develop gestational diabetes. Pregnancy can also occur in women with preexisting diabetes, which may predispose the fetus to many alterations in organogenesis, restrict growth, and the mother, to some diabetes-related complications, such as retinopathy and nephropathy, or to acceleration of the course of these complications, if they are already present. Women with gestational diabetes generally start their […]

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine the relationship between body fat composition, metabolic syndrome (MS), and insulin resistance in type 1 diabetes (DM1). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty-five DM1 women (36 ± 9 years; body mass index 24.6 ± 4.4 kg/m2) had body composition and insulin resistance determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and estimated glucose disposal ratio (eGDR), respectively. Twenty patients (45%) had MS according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. RESULTS: Women with DM1 and MS had increased central fat […]

The best comprehension about the instability of the glycemia levels in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients and the availability of new alternatives to successfully control it, like insulin pump therapy and the insulin analogues, underlined the questions about the brittle diabetes existence as a clinical entity as well as the necessity of define it. The aim of this article was to describe the concept of brittle diabetes in the light of the latest advances in the treatment of type […]

Islet transplant is an innovative treatment for type 1 diabetic patients, which still lies between experimental and approved transplant therapy. Islet cells are seeded in a non-physiological territory where an uncertain fraction will be able to adapt and survive. Thus, the challenge lies in improving the whole procedure, employing the tools of cell biology, immunology and laboratory techniques, in order to reach the results obtained with whole organ transplant. This review describes the procedure, its progress to the present methodology […]

Patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) may exhibit some residual insulin secretion for many years after their diagnosis. This has been associated with a more favorable prognosis. OBJECTIVE: To analyze insulin secretion in individuals with T1D using C-peptide (CP) response to glucagon and comparing patients with recent onset (<5 years – Group 1) and long-standing disease (>5 years -Group 2). METHODS: Subjects with T1D had their blood sampled before (fasting) and 6 minutes after glucagon infusion for CP, HbA1c and […]

Diabetic complications appear to be multifactorial process. The biochemical and pathological mechanisms are associated with chronic hyperglycemia of diabetes and the increased oxidative stress which has been postulated to play a central role in these disorders. Accumulating evidence suggests that oxidative cell injury caused by free radicals contributes to the development of type 1 diabetes (DM1) complications and decreased efficiency of antioxidant defenses (both enzymatic and nonenzymatic) seems to correlate with the severity of pathological tissue changes in DM1. In […]

The type 1 diabetic patient pregnancy is subjected to various attempts to obtain good glycemic control, since the pre-conception period throughout the gestation. Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) is a therapeutic tool to achieve the glycemic targets. Here it is presented the case of a Type 1 diabetic woman, who was not under multiple insulin daily injections therapy, and whose insulin therapy started on CSII during the second trimester of gestation, obtaining successful therapeutic outcome.

PURPOSE: Check the evolution of type 1(T1) diabetic patients to hypertension and prehypertension and baseline factors related to final blood pressure levels (BP). METHODS: Observational study involving 127 T1 diabetic patients submitted to clinical and laboratorial evaluation and followed by for 5 (2.4-9.2) years. RESULTS: From the initially normotensive patients, 21.7% developed prehypertension, 4.7% developed hypertension and 73.6% remained with normal BP. From the prehypertensive patients, 35% returned to normal BP, 50% remained prehypertensive and 15% developed hypertension. The relative […]

Vascular complications are the main cause of mortality and morbidity in diabetes. Mechanisms involved in the development of micro and macrovascular disease are complex and partially understood, but invariably begin as a dysfunctional endothelium. Nitric oxide is an important regulator of endothelial function and the impairment of its activity is determinant of the endothelial dysfunction. In type 1 diabetes, many factors like acute, chronic and post-prandial hyperglycemia, as well as the duration of diabetes or autonomic neuropathy and microalbuminuria are […]

This article will provide the necessary information to establish a childhood and adolescence management center that would promote the integration and coordination of interdisciplinary members as healthcare teams. It will also show how Instituto da Criança com Diabetes from Rio Grande do Sul (ICD) was built, structured and how it works. The aim of this program is to decrease the frequency of hospitalization in acute cases, to decrease chronic complications and to qualify human resources. So far 1315 outpatients and […]