Effect of disease duration on cardiac autonomic reflexes in young patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

The association of disease duration with deterioration of cardiovascular autonomic reflexes was studied in two groups of young patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). The mean age of the patients in both groups was 31 years and the mean duration of the disease was 3 (n = 18) and 16 (n = 22) years. No significant difference in group means was seen in the test parameters of autonomic nerve function. However, five patients with long-term disease, but none with short-term disease, had test scores indicating cardiac autonomic neuropathy. It was concluded that (1) the duration of the disease has no overall effect on autonomic nerve function in young patients with IDDM, but (2) a few individuals with IDDM may have some precipitating factors leading to autonomic neuropathy in the course of the disease.