'Adult diabetes' hits obese Swedish children
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 24 Feb, 2007 CET.
Updated: Sat 24 Feb 2007 11:31 CET
Young children suffering with Type-2, or adult-onset, diabetes have been discovered in Sweden for the first time.
"We are already seeing the early signs of adult-onset diabetes in five year olds," said professor Claude Marcus, head of the National Centre for Child Obesity in Huddinge, to Svenska Dagbladet.
"That means reduced sensitivity to insulin and evident effects on the blood vessels. It's very serious because Type-2 diabetes is an illness which affects the whole system."
This form of diabetes, which is non-insulin-dependent, is becoming increasingly widespread in developed countries.
Some 1.2 percent of children at the centre in Huddinge have been shown to have Type-2 diabetes. The first case of adult-onset diabetes in a Swedish teenager was recorded just two years ago.
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"We are already seeing the early signs of adult-onset diabetes in five year olds," said professor Claude Marcus, head of the National Centre for Child Obesity in Huddinge, to Svenska Dagbladet.
"That means reduced sensitivity to insulin and evident effects on the blood vessels. It's very serious because Type-2 diabetes is an illness which affects the whole system."
This form of diabetes, which is non-insulin-dependent, is becoming increasingly widespread in developed countries.
Some 1.2 percent of children at the centre in Huddinge have been shown to have Type-2 diabetes. The first case of adult-onset diabetes in a Swedish teenager was recorded just two years ago.
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