Adult Onset Diabetes: Fat Children – Bleak Future
Adult onset diabetes in children – a new development
Generations of medical students have learnt that "adult onset diabetes only affects adults." Children and young people were always exclusively associated with a different form of the dangerous metabolic disease: type I diabetes. However, current developments show that more and more children and young people are being affected by adult onset diabetes, i.e. type 2 diabetes.
Health organizations are sounding the alarm. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) warns that today's children and young people could trigger a full-scale epidemic of adult onset diabetes: "If nothing is done to reverse the current trend, over 380 million people worldwide will be living with the disease by the time this generation are in their thirties and forties." The figure has already reached 246 million. The IDF estimates that one in three children who are born in the USA will develop adult onset diabetes during their lifetime.
This is also an economic problem. According to the so-called Ko-DiM ("Cost of Diabetes Mellitus") study − the biggest study so far on the total costs of diabetes in Germany − providing medical care for a diabetes patient costs €2,193 per person per year more providing the same service for a non-diabetic. There are also indirect costs totaling approx. €1,300, since many diabetics are unable to work or go into early retirement. The IDF estimates that at least $232 billion will be spent in 2007 worldwide on treating or preventing diabetes and its secondary diseases.
Overweight is often the cause
This development is primarily caused by people being overweight. Many children and young people are too fat. An excessively sweet and greasy diet and lack of exercise often leads to obesity even among young children. The fat makes the young bodies prone to adult diseases – such as adult onset diabetes.
Young people in puberty who are very overweight are most at risk of becoming diabetic, although obese children at elementary school can also contract adult onset diabetes. A family predisposition to obesity is also frequently a factor.
Overweight people become insensitive to insulin
In healthy people, the insulin hormone regularly transports sugar from the blood to the body cells. If there is no insulin, the sugar remains in the blood, and the blood-glucose level rises – sometimes to life-threatening levels.
Although type 2 diabetics still produce insulin, the body cells no longer react sufficiently to the hormone. The blood contains more glucose than the cells can process. At the same time, the pancreas generates more and more insulin in an attempt to move the surplus glucose from the blood to the cells. If this overproduction continues, the organ becomes exhausted and gradually reduces – and finally stops – its insulin production.
Gradual development of the disease
The people affected remain unaware of what is happening for a long time. Long-term consequences – which can range from vascular damage to kidney diseases and blindness – do not usually develop until decades later. For young and very young patients, this means that they must expect to already develop chronic secondary diseases by the age of 25 to 30. A depressing prospect, because even today more than three million people a year worldwide already die of a stroke or a heart attack caused by an excessively high blood-glucose level.
How to avoid it: change your lifestyle
The good news is that a change in life-style can prevent or at least delay adult onset diabetes. Weight reduction, physical exercise and a healthier diet – for example less fat and more whole-grain products – can help us keep our weight within reasonable limits. This revives our body cells' sensitivity to insulin.
Parents should regularly take their children to routine medical checkups so that they can learn to recognize the alarm signals. They should also be aware of their model function: children of overweight parents are most likely to become obese themselves.
Blood-glucose measurement is an important check
If a child has already been diagnosed as diabetic, advisory services designed specifically for children can help the young patient get his or her disease under control. This then requires intensive medical support.
Regular monitoring of the blood-glucose level is also important. Blood-glucose measuring instruments from Bayer can also help children and young people become more aware of their disease and recognize that they can actively influence it themselves. Taking part in sporting activities, for example, directly – and measurably – lowers the blood-glucose level.
Advice for patients
Every body reacts differently to medicines. Therefore it is impossible to tell which medicine works best for you. Please consult your physician.