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Alcohol: a cause of diabetes in Rhodesia


A.C.B. Wicks
R.F. Lowe
J.J. Jones

Abstract

Forty-four per cent of newly-diagnosed Black male diabetic patients habitually drank more than 500 ml alcohol per week. This is a far higher proportion than in healthy men matched for age (6 - 12%), and suggests that the abuse of alcohol contributes to the development of diabetes in this population. In diabetic patients a high consumption of alcohol was found to be associated with liver damage, including cirrhosis, and also with iron overload, but not with insulinopenia or steatorrhoea. Twelve of the 98 newlydiagnosed diabetic patients also had cirrhosis, and 14 had a raised serum iron concentration or saturation.

S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 1115 (1974).

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eISSN: 2078-5135
print ISSN: 0256-9574