[Insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes mellitus in advanced age]

In everyday praxis diabetes mellitus diagnosed over the age of fifty years, means generally type 2 diabetes. Authors present cases where diabetes, beginning in advanced age, showed typical classical diabetic symptoms, like polyuria, polydipsia, loss of bodyweight. Apart from these signs a rapid decompensation of carbohydrate metabolism characterises this diabetes form. The most significant features are the rapid decrease of serum immunoreactive insulin and C-peptide levels, what is characteristic for the diminishing insulin secretory capacity. The patients had to be switched to insulin therapy within maximum 6 weeks. These patients can be easily differentiated both from type 2 and from the slowly progressing type 1 subtype. We suppose that the pathomechanism of this type of diabetes differs from the classical insulin-dependent form, beginning in young age.