Short stature and diabetic nephropathy

Recent studies have suggested that low birth weight is associated with a reduced number of nephrons and hypertension in later life,1 2 both well known risk factors for renal disease. An inverse correlation between microalbuminuria and height, the latter known to vary directly with birth weight,3 has been shown in non-diabetic men.4 We investigated the association between adult height and diabetic nephropathy in a cross sectional study of a cohort of insulin dependent diabetic patients attending the Steno Diabetes Center in 1984.5 We selected patients according to the following criteria: age >/=18 years, a duration of diabetes >/=5 years, and age at onset of diabetes age at onset 18 (10) years) were enrolled (97% of those eligible). We examined urinary albumin excretion …