Family awareness and the diagnosis of diabetes

Between 1982 and 1990, 101 children between the ages of one and 15 years were admitted with newly diagnosed insulin‐dependent diabetes (IDDM). Patients with a family history of IDDM or knowledge of diabetes symptoms from other sources (grouped together as ‘family awareness‘) were significantly less acidotic (mean bicarbonate 21.5 vs 18.1 mmol/l) and had a shorter in‐patient stay (10.2 days vs 12.4 days) than those with no such family awareness. However there was no difference in the mean length of symptoms (3.97 vs 3.66 weeks), mean plasma glucose (25.2 vs 26.9 mmol/l) or percentage receiving intravenous rehydration (33.0% vs 36.6%).