Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association
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To describe body composition in patients with Type 1 diabetes at diagnosis and during the first year after initiation of insulin therapy. ⋯ During the first year after onset of Type 1 diabetes the mean increase in BW is 6.5% with a 13.3% increase in FM and a 4.9% increase in LBM. Self-reported data on premorbid BW suggest an approximately 10% reduction in BW at onset of Type 1 diabetes. Compared with a healthy reference population initial body composition data demonstrate a 25% reduction of the FM, whereas only a minor and non-significant reduction in the LBM is encountered. These data indicate that uncontrolled diabetes is rather a fat catabolic state than, as previously believed, a protein catabolic state.