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Early type 2 diagnosis means greater complications, researchers claim

DCUK NewsBot

DCUK NewsBot

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Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at a young age means there is a higher risk of serious complications in later life, research says. A new study compared adults, who had been diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 30, to people who developed type 2 diabetes after the age of 40. The findings showed the people diagnosed earlier had increased severe neuropathy (nerve damage) and signs of diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease) than those who had had the disease for a similar amount of time but were diagnosed later. The younger group also had a much higher risk of death than peers without diabetes, the 10-year study found. Jencia Wong from the Diabetes Centre at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney and the University of Sydney in Australia, who led the research, said: "Firstly, we know that it takes many years to develop complications in diabetes. "Of course having type 2 diabetes at a younger age equates to a higher lifetime risk given the projected length of exposure to high glucose and other risk factors." Experts studied data taken from 354 people who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in adolescence and early adulthood with 1,062 adults in the other group who had the more typical onset between ages 40 and 50. The overall risk of death was lower for those diagnosed younger, but diabetes had a stronger effect on that risk for the younger group. The early diagnosis group had more than three times higher death rates which rose to six times higher when they were in early middle age. The study team used the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Diabetes electronic database linked to the Australian National Death Index to track complications and deaths related to diabetes. Both groups tended to have similar rates of metabolic syndrome, a constellation of traits including abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure that raise the risk of heart disease. The US National Kidney Foundation said those diagnosed at a younger age had high levels of protein in their urine which is an indication of diabetic nephropathy. The younger people also had more severe nerve damage than those diagnosed at an older age, the researchers reported in Diabetes Care. Wong said: "Our hope is that this research will serve to highlight that type 2 diabetes in the young is a serious condition which should be recognised by treating clinicians as such and be managed accordingly."

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Well, I really needed to read that tonight. Type 2 daughter, diagnosed in her teens has many other health issues, and now lots of cheerful stuff about death rates. Thanks. Like a real lot. Just exactly just who on this forum is this stuff supposed to benefit?
 
Ladybird, the point is that if your daughter can be helped to take control of her T2, none of those ghastly complications will happen. None. It can be done!

What about the eight-week Newcastle diet, for starters?

I know it's my nightmare that any of my daughters develop T2 (or T1). But it's a metabolism disorder, and we can fix it!

Hugs
 
I don't think this is anything new, is it?
I mean, the longer and higher our blood glucose goes, the more likely we are to experience complications. Being diagnosed young is therefore going to give a longer span of raised bg risks.

But as @LucySW says, the best way to deal is to get to grips with it and hang on.

I do feel terribly sorry for anyone diagnosed with T2 when young. It is a much longer haul than those of us diagnosed in middle age. But it is the scenario most T1s face automatically.

Also, unfortunately, it is becoming more and more common, for all those reasons that usually spark off intensive debate :( so I won't go into them here.
 
Galja said:
It says continue reading, but this was the entire article and there is nothing more
Click to expand...


What ever the post is, it says exactly the same thing. As you have found out, it is misleading to the member, as it takes you to other links :wideyed:
 
It all caught a raw nerve last night and got too much for me. Yes, obviously I'm aware of the risks of complications from longer term raised levels but it was the stuff about higher risk of mortality, 6 times..anyway.

I'm afraid its not that simple in her case Lucy, there are many other factors. I wish I could fix it for her, I really do. I wish things were different.
 
The study seems to fail to differentiate between well controlled and not well controlled diabetics. In the long term, going back historically, I think it quite unlikely that many T2 diabetics managed the sort of control that some achieve now (and more could achieve if they weren't receiving such conflicting advice).

Personally (and I know I shouldn't be smug since my 'Prediabetes' state is totally resolved simply by LCHF) I'd just keep calm and carry on and have confidence that normalising blood glucose will eliminate the risks associated with poor control - use it as another motivating piece of information.
 
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