Diabetes in children Uneven distribution

Diabetes is especially common among immigrant children

27/05/2013

Diabetes is gradually becoming a widespread disease in modern industrialized nations, affecting more and more children and adolescents. Whereas a few decades ago, it was possible to observe diseases of type 2 diabetes almost exclusively in the elderly (hence also called adult-onset diabetes), today adolescents are increasingly suffering from the metabolic disorder. A new study by the University of Ulm, published in the journal „Pediatric diabetes“ published, now shows that especially children and young people with a migrant background develop a type 2 diabetes very often.

The share of children and adolescents with a migrant background in recorded type 2 diabetes was 40 percent more than twice their share of the total population, the researchers write. Children of Turkish, Eastern European and Russian descent in particular suffered from diabetes type 2 to an above-average extent, according to study author Dr. Wendy Awa, Research Associate at the Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, University of Ulm. In their opinion, socio-economic reasons play a major role in the increased risk of diabetes among immigrant children. A comparable increased disease risk is known, for example, among ethnic minorities in the USA. So there would be „Indigenous people, African Americans, Latin Americans and Asians“ increased „suffer from this overweight-related form of insulin resistance.“

Ulmer Children's Diabetes Biobank
As part of the current study, the doctor of human biology Dr. Wendy Awa „The demographic, biometric, clinical, immunological and genetic data of a total of 107 young type II diabetes patients in Germany and Austria are analyzed for statistical correlations“, reports the University of Ulm in a recent press release. The data came from one „The so-called Diabetes Patient History Documentation, whose centerpiece is the Ulm Children's Diabetes Biobank, for which a new project portal has been opened in the German Biobank Registry“, so the university continues. In the Children's Diabetes Biobank, in addition to the patient data, more than 2,000 blood and serum samples have been collected from approximately 150 pediatric diabetes institutions. „With this biobank we have an excellent tool to search for evidence of significant relationships as a basis for further research“, said the coordinator of the database and head of the current study, Professor Reinhard Holl from the Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry of the University of Ulm.

Boys are more at risk of diabetes than girls
„What is striking is that Type II diabetes is often associated with the so-called metabolic syndrome“, a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, reports study director Professor Holl. The metabolic syndrome includes the interplay of obesity, high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipid levels and insulin resistance, which forms the basis for numerous other health impairments or diseases, said the expert. According to Professor Holl, a health-critical link between the above-mentioned clinical pictures was found in the current study, especially among young male patients. They suffered particularly often from concomitant diseases such as high blood pressure or abnormal blood lipid levels and had to be treated accordingly medication ... While the girls formed in relation to the examined totality of patients, the majority of diabetes type II sufferers, the boys were apparently more at risk from health.

Much of the young diabetic overweight
Less surprising, according to the press release of the University of Ulm „the established fact that a large proportion of young Type II diabetes patients were severely overweight or even obese.“ Because obesity is one of the main causes for the development of type 2 diabetes. The results of the studies also revealed a clear association with family predisposition to adolescent obesity, „In particular, we noticed a certain impression of the mother“, explained Dr. Wendy Awa. According to the researchers, significantly more mothers than fathers of obese children were also severely overweight or obese. In addition, more than 80 percent of parents or grandparents of overweight diabetic children had also been diagnosed with diabetes. Despite these strong connections with hereditary factors, the development of obesity in most cases, however, is based on a wrong diet and physical activity.

Help for the clarification of diabetes diagnoses
The study has also shown, according to the researchers, that some young diabetic patients were falsely classified as type 2 diabetics because of their overweight, despite having the autoimmune profile of a type I diabetic. For those affected, this makes a big difference, because while type I patients need lifelong insulin, give it „For many Type II patients, hope to get a better grip on the disease with a healthier diet and more exercise“, explained Dr. Wendy Awa. Here, the Ulm children's diabetes biobank in the future „also help to specify the diagnosis“, stressed Professor Holl. In addition, the particular vulnerability of children with a migrant background should be taken into account in the future prevention strategies against diabetes in order to avoid a further increase in the number of illnesses. However, Professor Holl could also give a bit of an all-clear on the development of diabetes diseases: „Although the disease has been increasingly diagnosed in recent years in this country, we are still a long way from an epidemic, as they like to be painted in the media.“ (Fp)