Type 2 diabetes, once an adult disease, is a growing health problem among American youth. A research study suggests that physicians should work to more aggressively prevent pediatric diabetes.
The results of the review were published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine.
With so few Type 2 diabetes treatment options available, prevention is extremely important. To improve health outcomes, the paper’s authors recommend that physicians routinely screen children and adolescents, take a high level of suspicion, and engage early and often with families who have children at risk for prediabetes and T2 diabetes.
“Pediatric type 2 diabetes is more advanced and aggressive than adult-onset Type 2 diabetes,” said lead author Jay H. Shubrook, DO, a professor and diabetologist at College Touro California University Osteopathic Medicine. “Children need our help, and we are not sounding the alarm loud enough.”
Risk factors
A young person’s metabolism is different from an adult’s metabolism. The liver does not clear insulin at the same rate, and adolescents experience a more rapid decline in b-cell activity – meaning they lose the ability to make enough insulin faster than adults.
For young people who are struggling with weight, diabetes is a major risk factor. Excess weight can lead to insulin resistance, a turning point for the disease. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Study, a national study published in 2018 and again in 2020, found that childhood obesity rates were 18.5 percent and that prediabetes was detected in 18 percent of cases. adolescents.
“It is no coincidence that levels of childhood obesity and prediabetes are almost the same,” Dr. Shubrook said.
Controlling the disease
Childhood obesity is a complex problem that extends beyond a child’s health behaviors.
The Diabetes Association of America recommends consideration of food insecurity, housing instability, and potential financial limitations when working with families to create a plan to control the disease . Stress, isolation, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and eating disorders should be screened throughout the assessment and treatment process.
“The best chance of slowing adolescent diabetes is for physicians to identify at-risk youth and provide early interventions that emphasize established preventive lifestyle changes. on a family, “said Dr. Shubrook. “Osteopathic principles and practice, which incorporate environmental, social, and lifestyle factors into patients in care, support this process.”
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This story was published from a wire group group with no text changes.