(Press-News.org) New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) suggests that Sweden—the country already thought to have the second highest prevalence of type 1 diabetes in the world—could have 2-3 times more adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes than previously estimated. The research is by Dr Araz Rawshani, Swedish National Diabetes Register, Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues.
Current estimates in Sweden are based on the Diabetes Incidence Study in Sweden (DISS), which has been around since 1983. The DISS is one of very few registers to record data on adolescents and young adults and therefore findings from the DISS study have had implications for diabetes research and care in many countries. Dr Rawshani and colleagues found that the DISS had very low coverage which discards previous findings.
The researchers found that they could more accurately estimate actual numbers by examining the country's Prescribed Drug Register (PDR) and establishing a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes via a patient's prescription medications; men with at least 1 and women with at least 3 prescriptions for insulin were included as having type 1 diabetes if they had not been given oral antidiabetic drugs. Women needed three prescriptions to avoid confusion with gestational diabetes, and oral antidiabetic drugs ruled out a type 1 diabetes diagnosis since these are used in patients with type 2 diabetes.
They then compared the results from the PDR with incidence rates in patients aged 14 and younger in the Swedish Childhood Diabetes Register (SCDR), which has almost all (95-99%) cases in that age group included, and by assessing diabetes type among 18-34 year olds in the National Diabetes Register (NDR). The absolute number of cases in adolescents and young adults aged 18-34 years was found to be 1,217 in the PDR, almost 3 times that originally thought (435 based on the DISS).
The researchers also found that their findings did not back previous research that the incidence is increasing among children and therefore decreasing in the rest of the population. Previous theories have stated that individuals develop disease earlier, but the total number of individuals has not changed. The new study shows that the incidence in adolescents and young adults is 2-3 times higher than previously reported and is actually as high as that reported in children aged 0-4 years. Consequently these previous theories are now being strongly questioned. "Our analysis of the Prescribed Drug Register found that that incidence rates in young people aged 15-34 years were equal to those in children aged 0-4 years," say the authors.
Since all patients with a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes must be entered into the PDR, the researchers say that this should be the ongoing method to determine type 1 diabetes incidence in any future studies. The authors say: "The incidence of type 1 diabetes is 2 times as high in 15 year olds. We believe that the Prescribed Drug Register is likely to be the gold standard for monitoring the incidence of type 1 diabetes, particularly in patients age 30 and younger. This method is feasible, reliable and cost-effective."
In terms of estimates in other countries, the authors note that "few countries can make similar estimations due to lack of possibilities to link different registries. Sweden has unique abilities in this area, due to the unique personal identification number which is assigned to every Swede and available in all health registers." But the authors add "we believe our findings are presumably applicable to other high-income countries due to the similarities in populations, lifestyle and incidence patterns."
The authors point out that type 1 diabetes was once a rare disease. They say: "It is not known why the incidence began to increase drastically in the 1980s. It is predicted that the incidence in Europe will rise by an alarming 70% between 2005 and 2020. The present study shows that the incidence in adolescents and young adults is 2-3 times higher than previously thought. Importantly, all epidemiological data suggest strongly that the changes in disease prevalence is due to changes in our environment, which now cause more individuals to develop disease. We now have a simple method to monitor the disease on a nationwide scale but many more multinational efforts are needed to resolve the conundrum of type 1 diabetes."
INFORMATION: END
Sweden has 2-3 times as many adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes as previously thought; Findings have potential implications for other high-income countries
2014-04-07
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
One in 3 intensive care survivors develop depression that manifests as physical symptoms
2014-04-07
A third of intensive care patients develop depression that typically manifests as physical, or somatic, symptoms such as weakness, appetite change, and fatigue, rather than psychological symptoms, according to one of the largest studies to investigate the mental health and functional outcomes of survivors of critical care, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
The study suggests that intensive care unit (ICU) survivors could be three times more likely to experience depression than the general population, and that depression is four times more common than post-traumatic ...
Scaffolding protein promotes growth and metastases of epithelial ovarian cancer
2014-04-07
SAN DIEGO, CA (April 6, 2014)—Researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center have shown that NEDD9, a scaffolding protein responsible for regulating signaling pathways in the cell, promotes the growth and spread of epithelial ovarian cancer.
Previous studies have demonstrated the protein's importance in tumor invasion and spread of some lymphomas and many solid tumor types, including melanoma, neuroblastoma, and breast cancer, but its role in gynecological cancers has been poorly understood. The new data, to be presented on Sunday, April 6 at the AACR Annual Meeting 2014, ...
Non-invasive imaging instead of repeated biopsy in active monitoring of prostate cancer
2014-04-06
Your body's cells have two major interconnected energy sources: the lipid metabolism and the glucose metabolism. Most cancers feed themselves by metabolizing glucose, and thus can be seen in Positron Emission Topography (PET) scans that detect radiolabeled glucose. However, prostate cancers tend to use the lipid metabolism route and so cannot be imaged in this way effectively. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study being presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 describes a novel method to "manipulate the lipid metabolism ...
Researchers find that renal cancer cells thrive when put in the right environment and supported by a specific enzyme
2014-04-06
SAN DIEGO, CA (April 6, 2014)—Tumor cells are picky about where they live. In the wrong environment, they fail to reach their potential. But put those same cells on the right bit of real estate, and they grow like mad. Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center found renal cancer cells planted in a supportive environment proliferate with the help of an enzyme usually only seen in the brain.
The enzyme, a specific isoform of a rather common kinase, may eventually become a target for cancer therapy as kinases constitute reasonably targetable enzymes, said Edna Cukierman, PhD, ...
Scripps Research Institute scientists provide new grasp of soft touch
2014-04-06
LA JOLLA, CA—April 6, 2014—A study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has helped solve a long-standing mystery about the sense of touch.
The "gentle touch" sensations that convey the stroke of a finger, the fine texture of something grasped and the light pressure of a breeze on the skin are brought to us by nerves that often terminate against special skin cells called Merkel cells. These skin cells' role in touch sensation has long been debated in the scientific community. The new study, however, suggests a dual-sensor system involving the Merkel ...
Amino acid fingerprints revealed in new study
2014-04-06
VIDEO:
This animation shows the basic process of sequencing amino acids in a nanopore, using the technique of recognition tunneling.
Click here for more information.
Some three billion base pairs make up the human genome—the floor plan of life. In 2003, the Human Genome Project announced the successful decryption of this code, a tour de force that continues to supply a stream of insights relevant to human health and disease.
Nevertheless, the primary actors in virtually all ...
Scientists find potential drug targets in deadly pediatric brain tumors
2014-04-06
BOSTON, MA (April 6, 2014) -- Researchers studying a rare, always fatal brain tumor in children have found several molecular alterations that drive the cancer, according to a new study from scientists at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and McGill University. The findings identify potential new targets for drug treatments.
The new research could help physicians choose targeted agents with a better chance of combating pediatric high-grade astrocytomas, which are extremely difficult to treat with radiation and surgery. The tumors have resisted ...
Field study shows why food quality will suffer with rising CO2
2014-04-06
For the first time, a field test has demonstrated that elevated levels of carbon dioxide inhibit plants' assimilation of nitrate into proteins, indicating that the nutritional quality of food crops is at risk as climate change intensifies.
Findings from this wheat field-test study, led by a UC Davis plant scientist, will be reported online April 6 in the journal Nature Climate Change.
"Food quality is declining under the rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide that we are experiencing," said lead author Arnold Bloom, a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences.
"Several ...
Researchers find arid areas absorb unexpected amounts of atmospheric carbon
2014-04-06
PULLMAN, Wash.—Researchers led by a Washington State University biologist have found that arid areas, among the biggest ecosystems on the planet, take up an unexpectedly large amount of carbon as levels of carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere. The findings give scientists a better handle on the earth's carbon budget—how much carbon remains in the atmosphere as CO2, contributing to global warming, and how much gets stored in the land or ocean in other carbon-containing forms.
"It has pointed out the importance of these arid ecosystems," said R. Dave Evans, a WSU professor ...
Friedreich's ataxia -- an effective gene therapy in an animal model
2014-04-06
The transfer, via a viral vector, of a normal copy of the gene deficient in patients, allowed to fully and very rapidly cure the heart disease in mice. These findings are published in Nature Medicine on 6 April, 2014.
Friedreich's ataxia is a severe, rare hereditary disorder which combines progressive neuro-degeneration, impaired heart function and an increased risk of diabetes. The condition affects one in every 50,000 birth. There is currently no effective treatment for this disease. In most cases, Friedreich's ataxia starts in adolescence with impaired balance and ...