Pattern of diabetes mellitus in the Sudan

448 Sudanese diabetics were included in this study. 30% of patients were in the age group 40-50 years and only 6.3% had childhood diabetes. The predominant sex was female (64.5%). Obesity was found in 39% of patients, a positive family history in 66.5% and a history of diabetic ketoacidosis in 25.2%. 100 patients (below the age of 40) had a plain X-ray abdomen done but none had evidence of pancreatic calcification. Percentages of diabetic complications in this study were as follows: neuropathy 28.1%, retinopathy 18.5%, cataract 14.7%, hypertension 12.9%, nephropathy 11.6%, peripheral vascular disease 6.2%, coronary heart disease 4.2% and pulmonary tuberculosis 2.7%. The majority of our patients were uncontrolled, only 16.7% had normoglycaemia (FBG less than 140 mg%).