Diabetes and the gut

Abstract

This review considers both the acute and chronic effects of diabetes mellitus on the gastrointestinal tract alone and will largely be confined to human data. Most gastrointestinal complications of diabetes do not produce symptoms. However, in a minority there may be severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, or faecal impaction, associated with considerable morbidity. More research is required into the effects of diabetes on the gut, which should, in turn, result in a better understanding of normal gastrointestinal function. Although at present most symptoms are attributed to the effects of visceral neuropathy, their intermittent nature is difficult to understand and suggests that transient metabolic or hormonal disturbances may be responsible.