Annals of medicine
-
Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus affects approximately 10% of urban Indian and Indian migrant populations and as such carries major health implications for these groups. Whilst a strong genetic component to the aetiology of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is incontestable, progress in identifying the specific genetic determinants involved in its pathogenesis has been slow. ⋯ A number of candidate genes have been studied with the aim of demonstrating either association or linkage with the disease; in South Indians the only positive results thus far have been associations between non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and the genes for insulin, apolipoprotein D and complement component C4B. However, it seems likely that these genes contribute only a small proportion of the genetic susceptibility to non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in this ethnic group and that the major genes underlying glucose intolerance remain to be determined.
-
Editorial Comparative Study
Attempted suicides: how should they be managed and suicide prevented?
-
Pancreatic transplantation for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in man has proved increasingly successful. Between December 1966 and August 1990 2735 pancreas transplants from 141 institutions were reported to the International Pancreas Transplant Registry. For the period 1986 to 1989 the one year graft survival rate in 1,200 patients was almost 70%, a significant improvement over the preceding five years. ⋯ On the other hand, it is established that pancreas transplantation may prevent the development of glomerular lesions in a simultaneously grafted kidney. Previously, transplantation of pancreas islets in man has not been successful. In 1990, however, in several insulin-dependent, diabetic subjects the intraportal transplantation of islets isolated from cadaver pancreas resulted in significant insulin production, and, in a few patients, it was possible to stop insulin treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)