CNN
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The number of people under 20 in the United States with type 2 diabetes could rise nearly 675% by 2060 if trends continue, and young people with type 1 diabetes could rise by up to 65%, study finds said the person.
Type 1 diabetes, in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin, is more common in young people in the United States, but type 2 diabetes, in which the body doesn’t use insulin the way it should, is “greatly rising” at this age. . group for the past 20 years, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
new researchThe study, published this month in Diabetes Care, the journal of the American Diabetes Association, used data from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study funded by the CDC and the National Institutes of Health.
The researchers found that if the incidence from 2017 remained unchanged over the next few decades, the number of young people with any type of diabetes would increase by 12% from 213,000 to 239,000. However, if incidence rates continue to rise as rapidly as they did between 2002 and 2017, as many as 526,000 young people could have diabetes by 2060.
Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American/Alaskan youth are more likely to have a higher burden of type 2 diabetes than whites, researchers say.
The expected significant increase in type 2 diabetes rates could have several causes, the CDC said, including rising rates of childhood obesity and the presence of diabetes in people of childbearing age.
People with diabetes are at risk for complications such as nerve damage, visual and hearing impairment, kidney disease, heart disease, and early death. The disease can get worse more quickly in young people than in adults, which may require early medical care, researchers note. This could put more demand on the U.S. healthcare system, resulting in higher healthcare costs.
“This new study should be a wake-up call for all of us. It’s important that all Americans, especially young people, strive to be as healthy as possible,” said the CDC’s acting chief deputy director. Dr. Debra Houry said in a statement.
Christopher Holliday, director of the agency’s Diabetes Translation Division, called the findings “disturbing.”
“This study’s startling predictions for an increase in type 2 diabetes show why it is important to promote health equity and reduce the widespread disparities that are already hurting people’s health.
