Highlights
- The prevalence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes is increasing among children and young adults.
- Children who develop type 2 diabetes have higher risk of complications as teenagers compared to those children who develop type 1 diabetes.
- Some complications include diabetic kidney disease, retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy, arterial stiffness and hypertension.
The prevalence of Type 1 diabetes has also been increasing both worldwide and in the United States.
Statistics
Diabetes accounts for 5th most common cause of death in the world.
In 2013, 382 million people were known to have diabetes. By 2035 this may rise to 592 million.
45% of children with newly diagnosed diabetes have Type 2 diabetes and most are overweight or obese at diagnosis.
Differences in Complications
Dana Dabelea, M.D., Ph.D., of the Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, and colleagues sought to examine the difference in the pattern of complications according to the type of diabetes at similar ages and duration of the disease.
Researchers recruited 2,018 participants with type 1 and type 2 diabetes diagnosed at younger than 20 years, estimated with the prevalence of multiple diabetes-related complications.
Among them 1,746 had type 1 diabetes and 272 had type 2.
Average diabetes duration was 7.9 years in both groups.
The researchers found that approximately 1 in 3 teenagers and young adults with type 1 diabetes (32%) and almost 3 among 4 of those with type 2 diabetes (72%) had a complication.
Patients with type 2 diabetes had higher prevalence for the following complications compared to those with type 1:
- diabetic kidney disease (19.9% vs 5.8% )
- retinopathy (9.1% vs 5.6% )
- peripheral neuropathy (17.7% vs 8.5% )
- arterial stiffness (47.4% vs 11.6% )
- hypertension (21.6% vs 10.1% )
But the difference in the risk of developing arterial stiffness and hypertension was not significant among those with type 2 diabetes.
"These findings support early monitoring of youth with diabetes for development of complications," the authors write.
The study appears in the issue of JAMA.
References
- Diabetes Facts and Figures - (https://www.medindia.net/health_statistics/health_facts/diabetes-facts-and-figures.htm
Source-Medindia