FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- As type 2 diabetes rates rise in children and adolescents, so do the risks of complications such as hypertension and dyslipidemia, suggesting the need for better approaches to manage the disease and its associated illnesses, according to a review in the May 26 issue of The Lancet.
Orit Pinhas-Hamiel, M.D., from Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Hashomer, Israel, and Philip Zeitler, M.D., from the University of Colorado at Denver reviewed the literature regarding short- and long-term complications associated with type 2 diabetes in adolescents.
Such patients are at risk for chronic complications such as hypertension, retinopathy, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular and atherosclerotic complications, and neuropathy. The early onset of microvascular complications, which can be present at diagnosis, may be associated with a faster progression of type 2 diabetes than type 1 diabetes.
Diabetic youth are also at risk of psychiatric disorders; about one-fifth of adolescents in one study had depression or behavior disorders. One study of pregnant adolescents with type 2 diabetes showed a pregnancy loss of 38 percent.
Acute complications such as diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state have also been more prevalent in adolescents with type 2 diabetes.
"In summary, substantial morbidity and mortality have been reported in children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes," the authors conclude. "We urgently need to develop approaches to awareness and early management of type 2 diabetes and associated abnormalities."
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