Diabetes Mellitus Blog

Still outstanding there twenty years, type 2 diabetes, the form of the disease related to obesity, is increasing among young people.

• A young man who developed diabetes between 10 and 15 years is threatened myocardial infarction at 25 years,” says Professor Jean-Raymond Attali, endocrinologist, diabetologist at Hospital Jean Verdier, Bondy, France. Asked Tuesday by The Associated Press, Professor Attali warns that “time is the same as for adults.

Diabetes is an increase of glucose, that is to say, the sugar in the blood. It is defined by a high fasting blood glucose greater than or equal to 1.26 g / l (measured twice). There are two types of diabetes: type 1 (10% of cases) and type 2 diabetes (90% of cases). The type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, to hereditary predisposition. Most often, it affects children, adolescents and young adults (under 30). Diabetes type 2, however, much more common, can be prevented through good nutrition, healthy weight, regular sports activities.

The type 2 diabetes develops when two anomalies are met:

• The body’s cells become less sensitive to insulin, which then leads the pancreas to produce more for the same effect. This anomaly occurs most often in people who are overweight and / or sedentary
• The pancreas is defective and fails after a certain time to produce enough insulin to compensate for the anomaly.

Overweight and obesity are not synonymous with diabetes but can be aggravating factors: 80% of patients with diabetes are overweight. Although for most people, sugar and diabetes are linked, few people, especially youth, are aware of the disease and its consequences (blindness, amputation, heart disease, decreased life expectancy, etc). Diabetes affects 246 million people around the world and these numbers are constantly increasing. It is estimated at 350 million the number of diabetics in 20 years.