ABSTRACT
We studies 151 case of diabetes in the young (age at first visit < or = 35 yrs) from January 1982 to June 1990. We classified the 151 cases into non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) (38.4%), malnutrition-related diabetes mellitus (MRDM) (36.4%), insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) (9.9%), secondary diabetes mellitus (2.6%) and unclassified category (12.6%). MRDM can be further classified into 2 groups: 22.5 per cent were fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes (FCPD) and 13.9 per cent were protein deficient pancreatic diabetes (PDPD). Abdominal roentgenography were performed in 103 cases (68.2%) and pancreatic calcification were found in 34/103 (33%). Farming occupation (p = 0.001), abdominal pain (p = 0.005), male sex (p = 0.0015) and cataracts (p = 0.02) were statistically more common in MRDM comparing to NIDDM and IDDM taken together. There were no statistically significant differences in history of alcohol consumption and raw cassava intake between both groups. Family history of diabetes mellitus were more common in NIDDM comparing to IDDM and MRDM.