Family history in classical juvenile onset diabetes in relation to severity of the disease.

A group of 100 patients with juvenile diabetes, age at onset 1-15 years (7.1 +/- 3.9), was studied with reference to family history of diabetes (FHD), HLA-types, symptoms at onset of diabetes, and occurrence of partial postinitial remission. No significant relations were seen between HLA-types and FHD. Nor was there any correlation between FHD and age at onset of diabetes, severity of th disease at onset, or occurrence of remission. Patients with a dominant type of inheritance were insulin-dependent to the same extent as those with less pronounced or no known FHD. According to previous results, it is concluded that all children and adolescents with a newly diagnosed diabetes should receive insulin treatment immediately to minimize further loss of B-cell function.