Survival with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus for more than 40 years - Who, how, and why?

Forty per cent of Danish IDDM patients survive 40 years or more with IDDM. Development of proteinuria is the predominant factor leading to increased relative mortality. The aim of the present study was, within a dynamic cohort of IDDM patients diagnosed before 1943, who were younger than age 31, and were admitted to the Steno Memorial Hospital, to identify factors influencing the probability of surviving ≥40 years with IDDM.