Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease (90% of cases). It would concern 4.5% of the French population. It is due to improper use of insulin by the body’s cells. The most common side effects of this affliction concern the heart and arteries, eyes, kidneys, nerves, feet, but also teeth. In addition, according to a new study published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, the disease, when it affects the patient before the age of 40, would increase their risk of premature death by four times.
To arrive at this sad conclusion, researchers from the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) analyzed the prospective diabetes study carried out in the United Kingdom. They noted that individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at a younger age had a tenfold increased risk of premature death. They were also more likely to develop cardiovascular complications (eye damage, kidney failure). Younger age of diagnosis was also associated with less stringent blood sugar control.
Adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes later in life had a risk of premature death one and a half times higher than unaffected individuals.
A more aggressive disease?
“Our data supports the need to proactively identify young adults with type 2 diabetes and provide high-quality care throughout their lives. We urgently need clinical trials focused on young people to develop tailored treatments that prevent or delay complications, such as kidney and heart disease, and, importantly, reduce the risk of premature death. alerts the lead author of the study, Dr Beryl Lin of the University of Sydney (Australia) and honorary research associate at the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford.
“Evidence to date suggests that early-onset type 2 diabetes, characterized by earlier and longer exposure to high blood glucose levels, may be more aggressive than late-onset disease. This could include a more rapid deterioration in the function of β cells – the cells in the pancreas that produce and release insulin – and an increased risk of complications such as cardiovascular and kidney disease,” explains Amanda Adler, co-author of the study and professor of diabetic medicine and health policy at the University of Oxford.
“We particularly need to understand why young adults with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of complications, and how we can identify and help this vulnerable group of people who must live with diabetes for the rest of their lives,” adds Dr. Lin.
Young people increasingly affected by type 2 diabetes
These results are all the more worrying because, according to Dr. Adler, “Over the past 30 years, the number of young adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has increased significantly worldwide.”
Although more and more young people are affected, particularly due to the increase in obesity, type 2 diabetes is most often diagnosed around the age of 65, with the frequency of the disease increasing with age.
Painless, it progresses slowly. On average, five to ten years pass between the appearance of the first hyperglycemia (presence of a chronic excess of sugar in the blood) and the diagnosis, confirmed by a blood test.
Source: www.topsante.com
