Cutaneous manifestations of diabetes mellitus

systems, eyes and the skin.[1] The skin is affected by One hundred fifty consecutive diabetes mellitus both the acute metabolic derangements and the chronic patients attending the endocrinology outpatient department and diabetic clinic constituted the study degenerative complications of diabetes. Although the group. One hundred fifty age and sex matched mechanism for many diabetes associated skin conditions non diabetics attending the medicine outpatient remains unknown, the pathogenesis of others is linked department were taken as controls. The majority, to abnormal carbohydrate metabolism, other altered 65.3%, belonged to the 41-60 years age group; 56% metabolic pathways, atherosclerosis, microangiopathy, were females, 97.3% had non-insulin dependent neuron degeneration and impaired host mechanisms.[2] diabetes, 44.7% had duration of diabetes of 1-5 The association of certain skin diseases with DM has years. Among the study group, 66% had cutaneous been fairly well recognized with an incidence rate manifestations as compared to 21.3% in the controls, ranging from 11.4[3] to 71%.[4] which was statistically highly signi› cant (P < 0.0001). Varied cutaneous manifestations were signi›cantly Ldsgncnknfx seen in diabetics compared to controls (P < 0.05). Diabetic thick skin in the form of ›nger pebbles was One hundred fifty consecutive patients with diagnosis the most common manifestation (49.49%), followed by fungal and bacterial infections (34.34%). The of DM attending the endocrinology outpatient occurrence of cutaneous manifestations directly department and diabetic clinic of department of correlated with the duration of diabetes (P < 0.05). medicine, Government Medical College, Jammu, Majority of cases with cutaneous manifestations were constituted the subject material of present study (group having uncontrolled diabetes and had multiple and A). One hundred fifty age and sex matched nondiabetic varied manifestations. As many as 87.8% of cases patients attending the medicine outpatient department with cutaneous manifestations had various vascular constituted the control group (group B). Inclusion criteria complications. for group A were raised fasting plasma glucose level as per the diagnostic criteria given by Ernesto;[5] those