[Severely unstable diabetes (brittle diabetes)--diagnostic and therapeutic questions]

The term "brittle" as applied to diabetes suggest a patients whose blood glucose concentration rises or falls unpredictable. Brittle diabetes can be defined as a condition where metabolic instability is sufficient to cause major disruption to the life-style or to endanger the life of a diabetic patients. On this basis of the literature data a survey is given of this problem. Unfortunately the etiology, the mechanism and the treatment of brittle diabetes are not clear as yet.