News & Star Tuesday, June 2, 200926 www.newsandstar.co.uk yyoouurrffaammiillyy88
Worrying rise in childhood diabetes
A SURGE in cases of insulin-
dependent diabetes among
children under five is expected to
hit Europe over the next 11 years.
If present trends continue, the
numbers in 2020 are predicted to
be double what they were four
years ago, experts have warned.
About 15,000 new cases of
insulin-dependent, or Type 1,
diabetes were recorded across
the whole of Europe in 2005.
Of these, 24 per cent were
children up to the age of four, 37
per cent children aged five to nine
and 34 per cent children aged 10
to 14. Researchers found that the
overall incidence of the disease
was increasing by 3.9 per cent per
year.
The increase in the 0-4 age
group was 5.4 per cent with a 4.3
per cent rise in the 5-9 age group
and a 2.9 per cent increase
among 10 to 14-year-olds.
A total of 24,400 new cases
were forecast for 2020, with a
doubling in the number of cases
of children aged five and under
since 2005.
Numbers of child sufferers
older than five were also
expected to increase substantially
and scientists say the changes
are too fast to be explained by
genetic factors alone.
They suggest lifestyle factors
may be partly responsible,
including a trend towards women
having bigger babies and
increased numbers of Caesarean
section births.
Higher increases were seen in
eastern Europe, where lifestyle
habits were changing more
rapidly than in the richer
European countries.
Type 1 diabetes is an auto-
immune disease in which insulin-
producing cells in the pancreas
are attacked by the body's own
defences.
Unlike Type 2 diabetes, which is
driven by diet and obesity, Type 1
is not normally linked to lifestyle.
Around two million people in
the UK suffer from diabetes, of
whom 300,000 have the Type 1
disease.
The research authors, led by Dr
Christopher Patterson, from
Queen's University, Belfast,
wrote: "More patients with severe
diabetes complications presenting
at younger ages than before are
likely, and appropriate care from
diagnosis, and maintenance of
good metabolic control are crucial
for delay or prevention of these
adverse complications.
"In the absence of any effective
means to prevent Type 1 diabetes,
European countries need to
ensure appropriate planning of
services and that resources are in
place to provide high-quality care
for the increased numbers of
children who will be diagnosed
with diabetes in future years."
Dr Iain Frame, director of
research at Diabetes UK, said:
"This evidence that children are
developing Type 1 diabetes at an
increasingly younger age is
worrying.
"Parents have the task of giving
their children or babies insulin
injections several times a day and
their children will be at risk of
short term complications such as
hypoglycaemic episodes or
diabetes ketoacidosis, both of
which may require hospital
treatment if severe.
"Diabetes can also lead to
serious long term complications if
not treated effectively.
"Many people live full and
healthy lives; however, the longer
the person has diabetes the
higher the risk of complications
such as heart disease, kidney
failure and blindness.
"Having a family history of
diabetes increases a person's risk
of developing the condition.
However, the increase is too
steep to be put down to just
genetic factors, so it must be due
to other environment factors."

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