Metabolic Changes in a Patient with Addison's Disease following the Onset of Diabetes Mellitu1s1

Abstract

THE DEVELOPMENT of diabetes mellitus in a patient with pre-existing Addison's disease has been reported only once (1).2 There are, however, 11 well-documented instances in which diabetes mellitus and Addison's disease have developed simultaneously or in which the onset of diabetes mellitus has antedated the onset of Addison's disease. In 4 of the 11 patients, Addison's disease and diabetes mellitus appeared to develop simultaneously (table 1). In the remaining 7 instances the onset of Addison's disease appeared to follow the development of diabetes mellitus (table 2). The case reported by Arnett in 1927 (2) has been referred to (11) as the first substantiated instance of the co-existence of the two diseases. A survey of the literature, however, revealed a case report by Unverricht in 1926 in which Addison's disease developed in a known diabetic (7).The case described by Crook and Russell in 1935 (13) had been reported in 1932 by Levy-Simpson (3) and hence these reports represent a single instance of the co-existence of the two diseases.