Germany Why do more and more children develop diabetes?

Diabetes: why more and more children in Germany are becoming ill?
The widespread disease of diabetes affects more and more children. The reason why so many adolescents develop type 1 diabetes in Germany has so far not been clarified by researchers. The metabolic disease can have dramatic health consequences.
More and more people are being treated for diabetes
According to the German Diabetes Association (DDG), more than six million people nationwide are being treated for so-called "diabetes". Health experts are not just expecting the numbers to continue to rise dramatically, but also point to a worrying dark figure of one to two million people who are not diagnosed with the disease and therefore not treated. Type 2 is the most common form, often caused or promoted by unhealthy diet, overweight or obesity and lack of exercise. In type 1 with more than 300,000 cases this is different: the autoimmune disease that occurs especially in childhood causes the pancreas to produce no insulin at all. And without this hormone, the body can not absorb the energy source sugar. The metabolic disease can have serious consequences: Among other things, high blood pressure, stroke, myocardial infarction, blindness, foot amputation and kidney failure can occur.

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Why are so many children sick??
The question of why so many children in Germany suffer from diabetes, researchers have yet to clarify. It is known that "diabetes" is the most common metabolic disease in childhood and adolescence. As the "Augsburger Allgemeine" reports, the director of the Institute for Diabetes Research at the Helmholtz Center Munich, Anette-Gabriele Ziegler said: "Nationwide, about 15,000 children under the age of 14 are affected by type 1 diabetes, and we expect numbers to continue to rise." Every year, the number of children under the age of five increases by about six percent. Germany is now one of the countries with the highest rate of children with type 1 diabetes worldwide. A total of 30,000 children and adolescents up to the age of 19 are affected, with around 2,300 new cases every year.

Various factors could play a role
Type 1 diabetes occurs regardless of age and weight - even newborns can get sick. Experts suggest that environmental factors could be significant for the disease. For example, one study found that preoperative Caesarean births are more than twice as likely to be at risk for Type 1 diabetes as "normal" deliveries. This is said to be related to the composition of the infantile intestinal flora, which favors the development of autoimmunity. The fact that there is a connection between intestinal flora and diabetes has recently been shown by a research project of the Medical University of Graz. Furthermore, a high particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide exposure, virus infections or the protein gluten are suspected to increase the risk of type 1 diabetes. (Ad)