Type 2 Diabetes in Youth Linked to Renal Disease
People who develop type 2 diabetes at an early age have a substantially increased risk of end-stage renal disease and mortality in middle age, according to a recent report in JAMA.
A group of researchers conducted a long-term study of the incidence of diabetes-related end-stage renal disease and mortality in Pima Indians of Arizona. From 1965 until 2002, they followed 1,856 participants with diabetes, 96 of whom developed the disease during youth.
Those who had an onset of type 2 diabetes were 4.6 times more likely to develop end-stage renal disease in middle age and three times more likely to die in middle age than people who developed diabetes as an adult. The long duration of diabetes clearly has an effect on the body, and efforts should focus on preventing diabetes and renal disease, the researchers conclude.
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