Risk Factors of Autonomic and Sensory Nerve Dysfunction in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes

Autonomic neuropathy (AN) in patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes was first described by Fraser et al. (1). Of the six patients examined, two had evidence of AN. In this study, autonomic dysfunction detected during the initial metabolic derangement in newly diagnosed diabetic patients was not reversible after a prolonged period of improved control, indicating that established alterations may occur from the time of diagnosis onward. Other authors (2,3) have also shown that standard cardiovascular reflex tests are able to detect AN in newly diagnosed diabetic patients. A relationship between the severity of AN and prolongation of the corrected QT interval has also been noted (4). According to the results of the EURODIAB IDDM Complications Study, the development of neuropathy is related to cardiovascular risk factors (5). The EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study (6) also confirms this finding. However, there are no data regarding potential risk factors of nerve dysfunction in patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. We examined 40 patients with newly diagnosed type 1 …