Spontaneous Remission In Diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes is rarely thought of as a remitting disorder. In the June Archives of Internal Medicine, O’Sullivan and Hurwitz suggest that this view may have to be modified. Having studied sequential glucose tolerance tests in 83 nonpregnant young diabetic women six months to two years after the onset of the disease, these investigators found an improvement in 54% and a return to normal in 28%. This would suggest that a reassessment of therapy and diagnostic screening is necessary. What causes diabetes to submerge? O’Sullivan and Hurwitz, having found no apparent cause for the remissions, have designated them as “spontaneous.”