Type 2 diabetes surges among children and teens -- and key treatment for adults often fails

[unlockingsky 94]

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57424501/type-2-diabetes-surges-among-children-and-teens-and-key-treatment-for-adults-often-fails/

There was more bad news Monday about this country's diabetes epidemic. Some 26 million Americans suffer from Type 2 diabetes, most of them adults. But the number of young people with the disease is growing fast. And now researchers have found that a key medication for treating it in grown-ups often fails in teenagers, as CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook reports.

Twenty-one-year-old Sara Chernov checks her blood sugar every day, one of many changes in her life since being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at age 16.

"It's definitely troubling for anybody dealing with a chronic disease to keep yourself on track, especially when you go through the phases of denial and understanding that this is a chronic disease," Chernov said.

Since 1980, obesity in children has almost tripled to more than 12 million. And that, says, Dr. Robin Goland, who helped run the study, has fueled a rise in Type 2 diabetes in young people.

"Historically, childhood diabetes has not been Type 2 diabetes, so very little is known about the right way to both prevent it and to treat it," Goland said.

Type 2 diabetes is the disease in which the body can't make enough insulin to process the sugar it takes in from food. Formerly, it was considered rare to encounter Type 2 diabetes in children, as opposed to Type 1 diabetes (once known as "juvenile diabetes").

Medications that control blood sugar lower the risk of patients developing complications such as poor circulation, blindness, and kidney disease. But the most commonly prescribed drug in adults, metformin, failed more than half the time in the young patients in the study.

"We can prevent them from getting diabetes, that would be far preferable than being in the position of treating it," Goland said.

That's been the goal in New York City, which has been waging an aggressive anti-obesity campaign for years, taking measures such as posting calorie counts on menus and banning sugary drinks from public schools. Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley says willpower alone is not enough.

"We're going to have to try to engineer physical activities back into our daily lives ... get PE more back into schools," he said. "Second, we're going to have increase access to healthy foods like fruits and vegetables and reduce the availability and promotion of the calorie-dense snack foods that make it so easy for us to consume too many calories."

And little is being done in our nation's high schools to help. Only 17 percent of students get the recommended one hour of moderately vigorous physical activity a day.

LaPook said that preventative programs like the ones in New York City are an excellent investment, even if they entail some up-front cost. The total cost of obesity plus diabetes in this country each year is $340 billion.

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

what should gov do about this? i am curious what yall thoughts are..

[X Factor 1,110]

Well it will impact health care. Think about the damage to the eyes, kidneys, nerves, and blood vessels. Remember the ads 20 years ago about your brain on drugs - where an egg was thrown into a frying pan. It temporarily reduced drug usage but long term failed miserable. I don't know what the government can do but try to educate the population.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Ban Twinkies and ice cream.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

The islets of Langerhans in the pancreas are big on reading government warnings. Maybe there's Diabetes for Beta Cells book that they could read. Given the overwhelming genetic component of Diabetes, all the lifestyle changes in the world are not going to solve the problem, only delay it. Where does personal responsibility fit into this? What if the person is too stupid or too stubborn to make any changes? The information is almost omnipresent, but the application of that information is the main issue. Teenagers are going to listen to anything that the government says, PUUUUULEEEEZE.

[X Factor 1,110]

Ban Twinkies and ice cream.

And donuts and cheese cake and chocolate

Edited May 1, 2012 by kennard

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Ban Twinkies and ice cream.

Don't hate on Twinkies.

Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds

[spookyturtle 9,465]

We're not smart enough to take care of ourselves. The government must protect us. From ourselves. And each other. If a $10 billion study says Twinkies are bad, ban them.

[X Factor 1,110]

We're not smart enough to take care of ourselves. The government must protect us. From ourselves. And each other. If a $10 billion study says Twinkies are bad, ban them.

Are we talking about a thread ban?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

The "government" should do nothing. Let the stupid kill themselves.

[X Factor 1,110]

They are already killing themselves

[kytwell 179]

I agree they (gov't) should not do anything. People need to be responsible for themselves. But I would like to see the elimination of HFCS from our foods. I eat "real" foods for the most part, but this HFCS is in everything, I saw it listed in bread crumbs or croutons the other day when I was shopping.

[웃 910]

We are the problem. Government is the answer.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

We are the problem. Government is the answer.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

We are the problem. Government is the answer.

I guess it's an even bigger problem when "we" are the government.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I guess it's an even bigger problem when "we" are the government.

Then we should line ourselves up against the wall and shoot?