Sad that Diabetes is on the rise.
Thought I'd post this out of interest of topic.
newswire.ca
Canadian Diabetes Association - Background
TORONTO, June 22 /CNW/ - Representatives of the Canadian Diabetes
Association are in San Diego this week attending the American Diabetes
Association's 59th Annual Scientific Sessions. Canadian researchers played a
prominent role at the conference, presenting papers showing that type 2
diabetes is on the rise among children and teenagers within two Canadian
Aboriginal populations.
Announcement Details (Excerpted from Conference materials)
ADULT TYPE OF DIABETES RISING DRAMATICALLY IN KIDS AND TEENS
Study No. 1
A study by the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Medicine evaluated 82
First Nation Cree children (age 6 to 17 years) who have been diagnosed with
type 2 diabetes since 1981. Comparing five-year periods ending in 1985 and
1998, the mean number of referred cases increased from 0.8 per year to 8.4 per
year - a 200 per cent increase in the number of children seen with the
disease.
''However, because screening picks up ten times more children than the
referred case procedure which produced these 82 cases, we must assume that
type 2 diabetes is being very much under-diagnosed in youngsters,'' said
Heather Dean, MD, professor of pediatrics at the university.
She urged that community diabetes screening programs in high risk groups
include children in order to define the true prevalence of the disease and
initiate early intervention strategies.
Study No. 2
A study at the Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto, in
collaboration with investigators at the University of Western Ontario,
evaluated the prevalence of pediatric obesity and associated behavioral risk
factors among the northwestern Ontario Oji Cree, who have high rates of adult
obesity and type 2 diabetes. The researchers measured height, weight, fitness
level, dietary intake, and television viewing in 445 youngsters, ages 2 to 19.
''Elevated obesity levels in children and teens is a harbinger of future
diabetes risk for them because obesity is associated with insulin resistance,
the first step in the development of type 2 diabetes,'' said Bernard Zinman,
MDCM, FRCP, FACP, a senior scientist at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research
Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital. Five per cent of the youngsters were found
to have impaired glucose tolerance (a condition which often leads to
diabetes), and 2 per cent were diabetic.
The researchers are working with the community on programs to expand the
curriculum on nutrition and exercise in grades 3, 4 and 5 curriculum and to
teach the link between obesity and diabetes.
Facts About Diabetes
Diabetes is a lifelong condition in which the body cannot properly use
and store the fuel (sugar) we take in from the foods we eat. Insulin helps
convert blood glucose from the food we eat into energy used by our bodies.
Type 1 diabetes develops in childhood or early adulthood, and accounts
for about 10 per cent of diabetes cases. People with type 1 diabetes must rely
on regular insulin injections to stay alive. Of the 90 per cent who have type
2 diabetes, most develop the disease after the age of 45.
More than 1.5 million Canadians have been diagnosed with diabetes.
Another 750,000 people are estimated to have diabetes but not yet know it.
More than 60,000 new cases are diagnosed yearly in Canada -- or one every
eight minutes.
The Canadian Diabetes Association
The mission of the Canadian Diabetes Association is to promote the health
of Canadians through diabetes research, education, service and advocacy. To
help achieve its goals the Canadian Diabetes Association has built a strong
network of members, volunteers, health care professionals, partners and staff
from coast to coast and operates more than 150 branch locations across the
country.
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For further information: Martin McInally, Senior Manager, Media
Relations at (416) 363-0177 ext. 469 |
