Type 2 diabetes is certainly not something to be taken lightly, as it’s an impairment on the way our bodies regulate and use sugar. This condition practically means that too much sugar will circulate in the bloodstream. Eventually, this situation can lead to disorders in the circulatory, immune, and nervous systems.
According to USA Today News, a new study brings the alarming statistic that the number of those who are younger than 20 years old and living with type 2 diabetes has increased tremendously.
A 95% increase in young people having type 2 diabetes
The increase in question reaches a staggering 95%. The new study is pretty compelling, considering that it was made by analyzing records of over 3 million young people from seven American states (Ohio, South Carolina, Washington, California, Colorado, and Arizona, and New Mexico) between 2001 and 2017.
The study adds that among the children and teens who live with the illness, the highest number per 1,000 were Black or American Indian individuals.
People who develop type 2 diabetes at a younger age are at higher risk for earlier complications than those adults who develop it later in life.
Selvin, who’s a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, declared as quoted by USAToday.com:
These increases in type 2 diabetes in youth are sobering,
It used to be thought that type 2 diabetes was a disease of adults. And now, we’re seeing major increases in kids. And this is a disease they’re likely to have their whole lives.
The findings are considered “extraordinarily concerning.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) informs us that type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90-95% of all the diagnosed cases of diabetes.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
