In the study, published in the November issue of Diabetes Care, researchers examined the medical records of 7,844 members of a health maintenance organization who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and compared them with members who did not have diabetes. Below, lead study author Teresa Hillier, MD, an endocrinologist and investigator at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, discusses how diabetes is different in younger adults, and how Americans can put a stop to this dangerous trend.
Why are younger adults getting type 2 diabetes?
The main reason is that up until a decade or so ago, it was pretty rare to see type 2 diabetes in young adults, and that has changed dramatically with the increasing obesity in our population. People have a genetic risk for type 2 diabetes, but obesity essentially brings that out at a younger age.
The metabolic syndrome, a risk factor for diabetes that includes a constellation of factors such as abnormal glucose (sugar) levels, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, are all worsened by obesity.
Being overweight or being inactive affect how your body processes insulin, so modest weight loss or moderate changes in activity level will improve how insulin works.
Did the term "type 2 diabetes" replace "adult-onset diabetes" because it's becoming more common at younger ages?
Yes, exactly. It's been called non-insulin dependent in the past, but that's not true, either, because although people often start out treating their diabetes with diet and pills, they may need to go on an insulin. And then it was called adult-onset to distinguish it from the kind of diabetes that more typically presents in kids.
