Double Diabetes -- Placing Your Kids at Even More Risk
In some medical circles it's called Type 3 Diabetes. Teenagers and young adults diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, if overweight or obese, can develop type 2 diabetes later in life. It's a double whammy and the medical consequences of such a diagnosis don't look good.
First, let's briefly cover the basics of diabetes.
Diabetes is Elevated Blood Glucose Levels
Higher than normal level of glucose in the blood is diabetes. Glucose is the main energy source for the brain and nerves and comes from digesting carbohydrates. Because of its importance as an energy source, glucose blood level is normally kept within a narrow range.
Two hormones help to keep glucose in this normal range. First, there is insulin. Insulin is released by the pancreas as glucose levels rise after a meal. It promotes the uptake of glucose by muscle cells. Second, is glucogon. This hormone causes the release of glucose out of energy stores during fasting. The insulin to glucogon ratio helps to stabilize the normal levels of blood glucose.
Two Types of Diabetes
In order to have consistently high blood glucose levels either insulin production and/or release from the pancreas is defective or the muscles don't respond to insulin when it is released.
Juvenile or Type 1 Diabetes -- Insulin production is defective. Most often detected early in life. These patients require insulin shots.
Adult Onset or Type 2 Diabetes -- The muscles don't respond to insulin. In this case, glucose stays within the blood and not in the tissues. The early stage is called Insulin Resistance. Type 2 is associated with being overweight or obese.
The Atypical Type of Diabetes -- Double Diabetes or Type 3
A young man who has type I diabetes, if he does not follow a proper diabetic diet and an exercise program, could develop type 2 diabetes on top of his type I diagnosis.
This is a fear turned into reality for many type I diabetics and their families. The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh states that 25% of children with type I diabetes are showing features of type 2. The main feature shared by all of these children...obesity. Dr. Dorothy Becker, a pediatric endocrinologist and leading double-diabetes researcher, feels the numbers will continue to climb.
And an ongoing study to determine the best treatment for children with type 2 diabetes is also uncovering many kids who harbor antibodies that signal they have or are developing the type 1 form.
No matter which type of diabetes came first in a child, it makes treatment that much harder for everyone involved. So what is the best treatment?
Treating Type 3 Diabetes
The best treatment for type 3 diabetes is prevention. Children, with or without diabetes, must exercise. Toning and building muscle tissue is the only effective way to protect against type 3 diabetes.
Strong muscles are metabolic active and able to uptake glucose as expected when insulin is released into the blood. Parents, start a supervised and doctor approved workout program with your children. Something tells me that we may need a strong future.
To Healthy Living!
Michael A. Smith, MD
Chief Medical Consultant
Diet Basics Website
Dr. Smith is the Chief Medical Consultant for the Diet Basics Website, a content rich weight loss site dedicated to the on-line dieter. Please visit his site at Diet Basics.
MORE RESOURCES:
 The Guardian | Diabetes quadruples birth defects risk, say researchers BBC News By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News The risk of birth defects increases four-fold if the pregnant mother has diabetes, researchers say. The Newcastle University study, published in the journal Diabetologia, analysed data from more ... Diabetes 'increases birth defect risk' Birth defect risk heightened by diabetic mums Women with diabetes warned to take precautions when having a baby |
 Science Codex | Diabetes study from Sanford-Burnham finds pancreas can 'taste' fructose Orlando Sentinel “We know a lot about how glucose interacts with the pancreas, but we didn't think the pancreas had much to do with fructose,” said Bjorn Tyrberg, adjunct assistant professor in the Diabetes and Research Center at Sanford-Burnham, and senior author of ... Pancreas May 'Taste' Fructose, Hinting at Links to Diabetes Tasting fructose with the pancreas |
 Waterbury Republican American | Paula Deen talks diabetes, recent controversy Fayetteville Observer By Jennifer Calhoun When celebrity chef Paula Deen announced she has was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes three years ago, no one seemed shocked. But many were frustrated, including local diabetes educators. After all, the down-home, Savannah-based ... A diabetes dialogue |
ACP Guideline Addresses Pharmacotherapy of Type 2 Diabetes Medscape February 6, 2012 — Metformin should be the initial drug for most patients with type 2 diabetes refractory to lifestyle modifications, with a second drug added if needed, according to a new clinical practice guideline from the American College of ... Metformin Preferred Drug for Type 2 Diabetes, Experts Say New Guideline: Metformin Best to Control HbA1c Oral Drug Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Clinical Practice Guideline ... |
 Press TV | Diabetes takes toll on women's hearing Florida Today Diabetes is associated with hearing loss in women, especially if the blood sugar disease isn't well-controlled, new research indicates. The study, done by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, examined the medical records of 990 men and women ... Uncontrolled diabetes can cause hearing loss in women Study links diabetes, hearing loss in women |
Diabetes workshop can help people adjust to disease Fort Morgan Times By Luann Boyer Extension Agent If you have diabetes, reading nutrition labels is often frustrating and doing weekly food shopping can be downright overwhelming. Do you miss favorite foods which you believe are no-no's because of the amount of sugar and ... Medical Myth:Eating too much sugar causes diabetes |
The Curse of Amylin's Diabetes Drug Approval TheStreet.com ... after more than two and a half years, two FDA rejection letters, and at least a dozen amendments to the application, Amylin Pharmaceuticals(AMLN) received FDA approval for Bydureon, a once-weekly formulation of its existing diabetes drug Byetta. Amylin takes 4Q loss as Lilly partnership ends Amylin Pharmaceuticals Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Financial Results Inside Wall Street: Is Amylin a buyout target? |
Hypertension, diabetes rife in Ahmedabad: AMC survey Times of India AHMEDABAD: The entrepreneur Amdavadi across various economic strata now shows chronic signs of being both stressed and diabetic. In one of the recent comprehensive medical camps run by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), for citizens across its ... |
 TucsonSentinel.com | Girl & dog bond over type 1 diabetes Tucson Citizen They each have Type 1 diabetes and have formed a bond which is helping to heal both. Petey, a 1 year old Terrier mix, came to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona as a stray. He was very skinny, and barely alive with a severely injured back leg that ... Girl and dog form healing bond |
 San Francisco Chronicle (blog) | The wine connector, Marion Nestle's diabetes take, and chickpeas: In Sunday's ... San Francisco Chronicle (blog) Food Matters: Marion Nestle chimes in on diabetes, diet and Paula Deen: “The health and economic costs of type 2 diabetes, and its preventability, are reason enough to demand changes in the food environment. The ADA should be working hard to make it ... |
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