Incidence of IDDM during 1988–1992 in Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

SummaryThe objective of this study was to determine the incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) in the population of Zagreb, Croatia, during 1988Croatia, during -1992. A centralized diabetes registry was the primary source of data, while secondary sources were used to assess ascertainment. A total of 282 new cases of IDDM were diagnosed in the study period, the primary and secondary sources identifying annually 93-100 % of the cases. The annual incidence rate ranged from 5.6 per 100,000 to 6.6 per 100,000. Early fatality in persons older than 50 years was the major cause of underascertainment. The incidence peaked in the 10-14 years age group (12.4 per 100,000), and remained stable after age 24years. Males had a significantly higher incidence in the 5-9 and 24-44 years age groups. In the 45-54 years age group, females had a significantly higher incidence. No seasonality was observed. Despite the war conditions in Croatia, the low overall IDDM incidence rates did not change significantly during the study period. [Diabetologia (1995) 38: 550-554]

Increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes in Israeli children following the Second Lebanon War

“…Among many reports that connected psychological stress with the emergence of type 1 diabetes (mostly questionnaire‐based studies) , two studies have identified the trauma of war in the republics of former Yugoslavia as one of the severe stressful events that were associated with the emergence of the disease . In contrary, no change in diabetes incidence was found during the war in Croatia . Many studies that addressed the effect of psychological stress on type 1 diabetes were conducted on a small scale.…”

The epidemiology of Type 1 diabetes mellitus is not the same in young adults as in children

“…A number of studies have reported a strong male preponderance in the incidence of Type 1 diabetes in adults [18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. In this respect young adults differ from children, for overall sex-specific differences in children are slight, although high-incidence populations tend to show male preponderance, and low-incidence populations (mostly non-European) show female preponderance [34].…”

“…Adult cases are characterised by a reduced frequency of HLA susceptibility haplotypes, as compared with children [1,16,17], and overall have less acute symptoms than children [1]. Male predominance is a further, unexplained feature of Type 1 diabetes in young adults [18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]. This is in marked contrast to most other common immune-mediated conditions, which are typified by female preponderance [28].…”

Sex difference in the incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: an analysis of the recent epidemiological data

“…A male excess is found primarily among Caucasoid populations, where the high incidence of IDDM is prevailing. Only a limited number of studies of IDDM incidence (all in Europid populations) have been done among young adults in the 15-39 year age group, 38,62,69,70,73,[84][85][86] and almost all of them have reported a strong male excess in the incidence of IDDM. This age-related difference in the sex ratio is an interesting phenomenon but difficult, however, to interpret from the epidemiological point of view since the existing data are scarce.…”