Early maturity onset diabetes mellitus presenting as episodes of hypoglycaemia.

Diabetes mellitus is a genetically determined disorder of metabolism which in it's fully developed clinial expression is characterized by fasting hyperglycaemia. In early maturity onset diabetes the most common abnormality is delayed secretion of insulin following a glycaemic stimulus which may then be followed by an exaggerated response (Seltzer et al., 1967). This disturbance of insulin in early diabetes can lead to hypogly-caemia which in many patients is not severe to be symptomatic. However, in an occasional patient symptoms related to hypoglycaemia are predominant, which cause diagnostic confusion and delay in appropriate treatment. In this case report we describe a patient with early maturity onset diabetes who presented with episodic symptoms of palpitation, sweating, weakness, visual blurring, tachycardia and lack of concentration which were from time to time ascribed to anxiety state and neurasthenia. The diagnosis of hypoglycaemia of early maturity onset diabetes was finally established by doing a five hour glucose tolerance test supported by insulin studies.