Lipoatrophic Diabetes and Mental Illness in Three Siblings

Three siblings with the syndrome of lipoatrophic diabetes who developed paranoid psychoses are described. Their parents and the other five siblings in the family were also studied. None of the other five siblings has been psychotic and none of them has diabetes mellitus or lipoatrophy. Although there is a family history of both diabetes mellitus and psychosis, a history of lipoatrophy was not obtained. There are several published descriptions of the occurrence of psychiatric disorders in patients with lipodystrophy. The findings in these siblings and in reports in the medical literature suggest that lipodystrophy may predispose, in some yet undefined manner, to the development of mental illness.