Obviously, developing Type 2 diabetes while you're still a young 'un is bad for your long-term health outlook, period. Here's a specific example of how it might negatively affect you or someone you know: a new study reports that kids or teens who develop T2 diabetes face a high risk of also developing serious kidney problems down the road, including kidney failure and even death. The study looked at the long-term health records (almost forty years' worth) of Native Americans from a Southwestern tribe. It was found that the incidence of serious kidney disease in people under thirty-five years of age was much higher if they had first developed diabetes while under twenty years of age. That is, higher than for those diagnosed with T2 diabetes as adults, between the ages of twenty and fifty-five. In addition, the death rate for those first diagnosed under the age of twenty was - very scarily - double that for people diagnosed as adults.
To read more, check out this article in Forbes online.
1. This seems to be another study that simply confirms what most of us already felt was the case. On the one hand I can see the need for these studies, on the other hand I wish that the money spent on the studies could be used for education of those afflicted with Type 2 at an earlier age.
My heart goes out to these folks. As a person with Type 1 diabetes, I honestly feel that my odds are better simply because I am on an insulin-based regime and I benefit because of tighter control over my A1C values.
Posted at 4:23PM on Jul 26th 2006 by Bernard Farrell