[Diabetes mellitus and functional and structural changes in the gastrointestinal tract: a clinical and epidemiological study (a review and the authors' data)].

The paper presents the currently available data on the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM), its complications, including functional and structural changes in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). A range of unsolved problems associated with the frequency, pattern and mechanisms of gastric functional and structural disorders in DM; the cause-and-effect relationship between DM and upper GIT pathology; and the role of Helicobacter pylori in the development of gastroduodenal mucosal changes in the presence of DM are described. The authors give the results of their own studies on 2 groups of patients with DM: (1) 463 patients treated for GIT pathology in a specialized gastroenterology unit; (2) 1500 patients were followed up by a polyclinic endocrinologist. The study has shown that the number of diabetic patients with GIT dysfunction complaints constantly increases. Ulcerative erosive lesions were detected in 36.6% of the inpatients with DM and only in 1.9 and 3.2% of the outpatients with Types 1 and 2, respectively; moreover, the patients with Type 2 DM more frequently complained of epigastralgia than those with Type 1 DM.