[Life expectancy of people with type 1 diabetes in the past and today]

The life expectancy of Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) dramatically improved after the discovery of insulin in 1922, but was still 25 years shorter than that of non-diabetic population. Some people with T1DM, however, lived to the same age as a non-diabetic population and had no late complications of diabetes. They began to be awarded medals in appreciation of their long life with diabetes. They also became the subject of a research examining why they lived so long and what was the difference between them and those patients with T1DM, whose lives were much shorter. The paper deals with the differences observed in the ´medallists´ and discusses various hypotheses that might account for them. It seems that reliable control of diabetes within the first 20 years following the diagnosis is very important, in relation to the existence of "glycemic memory" which may significantly affect life expectancy in the following years. Human lifespan in general has been linearly extended since the early 19th century and the same holds for lifespans of people with T1DM. This is due to the higher quality control of glycemia on the one hand, and a better prevention and treatment of complications. It is observed that the incidence of terminal stages of diabetic nephropathy has been dropping, the primary as well as secondary prevention of cardiovascular complications, cardiological treatment and heart surgery have been improving. Manifest proteinuria, diabetic neuropathy and hypertension appear to be major prognostic factors of increased mortality. If these indicators are not present, the life expectancy of patients with T1DM does not significantly differ from that of the non-diabetic population.Key words: diabetic nephropathy - glycemia - glycemic memory - ICHS - late complications of diabetes - mortality - prognosis - type1 diabetes mellitus.