28 Feb More Complications In Type 2 Than Type 1 Adolescent Diabetes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Dana Dabelea
Dana Dabelea, MD, PhD
Conrad M. Riley Professor of Epidemiology and Pediatrics
Director, Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Aurora, CO 80045
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: These recent increasing trends in type 1 and 2 diabetes diagnosed in young individuals raise the question of whether the pattern of complications differs by diabetes type at similar ages and diabetes duration. The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Stud, looked at five health complications and co-morbidities of diabetes, including: retinopathy, diabetic kidney disease, peripheral, arterial stiffness and high blood pressure. The researchers studied 1,746 adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes and 272 with type 2 diabetes diagnosed when < 20 years, with a similar average duration of 7.9 years and at a similar age of 21 years.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: The study found a significantly higher burden of diabetes-related complications and comorbidities in adolescents and young adults with type 2 diabetes compared to Type 1 diabetes, and among minority youth. Approximately one in three teenagers and young adults with type 1 diabetes (32 percent) and almost 3 of 4 of those with type 2 diabetes (72 percent) had at least one such complication. Additionally, any adjustment for differences in age, sex, race/ethnicity, and levels of glucose control over time, did not remove the excess prevalence among those with type 2 diabetes.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: There is a need for heightened clinical suspicion and detection of early complications, together with aggressive risk factor control, in all adolescents and young adults with diabetes, but especially among those with type 2 diabetes and in minority youth.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: The high burden of early diabetes-related complications and comorbidities in youth with diabetes requires additional research to clarify the underlying causes and to identify effective intervention strategies. We need to make sure each risk factor is under the best control possible to reduce future problems that may be more apparent as these youth become young adults.
MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Response: The study population was drawn from what is, to our knowledge, the largest multi-ethnic population-based registry of pediatric diabetes in the U.S. (the SEARCH study), and has similar characteristics to the overall population from which it draws. Even though the complications were based on a single assessment, risk factors were measured longitudinally at prior visits. The SEARCH study will continue to follow this cohort in the future to better understand the determinants of progression of these complications so that effective intervention strategies can be developed.
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Last Updated on February 28, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD