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Home > Diabetes — a rising and alarming trend in young people
Published on July 21, 2022
Research is showing an alarming trend in the prevalence of type 1 diabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), in 2019 in the U.S. alone nearly 1.9 million people were living with type 1 diabetes, with an estimated 64,000 new diagnoses per year. What’s more troubling is the increasing rate among children and young adults. The ADA’s most recent data shows an estimated 18,000 youth are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes annually as of 2014-2015.
Dr. Kannan Kasturi is a pediatric diabetes specialist and endocrinologist at the Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic. He completed his residency in pediatrics at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, New York, and completed his fellowship in diabetes and endocrinology at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Dr. Kasturi has been practicing for the last four years. Because this is a very specialized area, there are limited providers around the country. Dr. Kasturi is the only one in the Northland, from just north of Minneapolis to International Falls and as far west as Fargo.
Dr. Kasturi said we could see a continued acceleration of cases because the overall nationwide incidence and prevalence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are increasing.
“Worldwide, northern European countries, especially Scandinavian countries, report the highest prevalence of type 1 diabetes,” said Dr. Kasturi. “The Northland is unique in the aspect that we have quite a bit of Scandinavian ethnicity in our population, which places us at especially higher risk.”
Type 1 diabetes causes your blood sugar levels to fluctuate rapidly in response to food, physical activity, illness and stress, requiring people to routinely measure their levels.
A recent report published in the National Library of Medicine found type 1 diabetes is one of the most prevalent chronic illnesses diagnosed in childhood and occurs in one out of between 400-600 American children. An estimated 15-20% of those cases are children younger than 5.
It’s a difficult disease to manage for anyone, let alone a youngster. Managing a type 1 diagnosis requires a healthy diet, near-continuous monitoring of blood sugar, administering insulin when needed and several other things to maintain glycemic control.
“The easiest way to describe treating this condition would be ‘all-encompassing,’ ” said Dr. Kasturi. “It controls every aspect of a child’s life, including school, sports, playtime, sleepovers, as well as completely derailing a parent’s view of a ‘typical childhood’. This commonly leads to frustration, anger and eventually to anxiety and depression.”
Recent data from the Type 1 Diabetes Exchange indicate that 36% of children under the age of 6 fail to meet ADA goals for A1C percentages, which measure blood sugar levels. People with diabetes have an A1C level of 6.5% or higher.
Dr. Kasturi said “uncontrolled diabetes can cause multiple permanent complications,” such as eye problems, nerve problems (neuropathy especially of the lower limbs, including foot amputations), kidney problems and small blood vessel disease, including heart conditions.
The exact cause of type 1 diabetes is still largely unknown. Typically, the body’s immune system, which normally fights harmful bacteria and viruses, mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. It is thought that genetics and exposure to viruses and other environmental factors could be contributing factors.
“Unlike type 2 diabetes, which is often caused by obesity, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, meaning your immune system, which normally protects your body, turns against you. In this case, the immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin,” said Dr. Kasturi.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes include:
Complications from type 1 diabetes include:
There is currently no known way to prevent type 1 diabetes, but doctors recommend a healthy diet, regular exercise, regular health check-ups and managing your blood sugar. Things to consider include limiting sugar, practicing portion control with food, drinking plenty of water and consuming foods high in fiber.
Dr. Kasturi says regular visits with a team of childhood diabetes specialists, including providers, registered dietitians and registered nurses, are most helpful. Recent technology like continuous glucose sensors and insulin pumps have also been helpful in managing this chronic and difficult condition. With support and good medical care, it can be very well managed.
Managing diabetes can be unique to the individual based on genetics, lifestyle, socioeconomic status and more. People wanting to learn more about treatment options offered through Essentia should visit our website to see the vast resources we offer to help patients.
View video transcript Listen to audio description (MP3)
(DESCRIPTION)
A toddler boy walks in a dining room, carrying a book made of fabric.
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SPEAKER 1: When we were pregnant with Ryder, we found out fairly late in my pregnancy that Ryder had a heart condition. We had gone in for one of my regular checkups with my midwife, and on the little Doppler, we heard an irregular heartbeat. And we found out that he had a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot.
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She sits with him on the floor, pointing at buttons on a toy.
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And it was one of those– I think I pretty much just shut down. During that scan, that’s when they found the murmur and the hole in his heart.
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He pushes buttons on the toy as he stands up.
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So I was completely caught off-guard and hadn’t mentally prepared myself for that. But from there, it was really great working with the team at Essentia, because not only did my midwife circle back with me, the cardiologist, Dr. Rauser-Foltz got a hold of me right away and talked me through and asked if I had any questions, she had us come in and meet with her even though baby wasn’t born yet, but she wanted to make sure that we got to meet her and were comfortable talking to her.
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The lobby of a hospital, with desks on one side and elevators on the other. A hallway on one of the upper floors of the hospital, with chairs, desks, and a sign on the wall that reads, Women’s Clinic.
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From there, we went and had some additional scans just making sure that we had as much of a picture as we could prior to him being born, and we had the option of having Ryder down in the cities. We would have gone anywhere and done anything for him to make sure that it would gone as best as possible, and we wanted to stay in Fargo. We wanted to stay at Essentia because that is where our care team was at and where we felt comfortable. And after Ryder was born, Dr. Rauser-Foltz came in and again was really great about assuring us that we’re doing everything we can, you don’t need to be nervous about anything at this point. We did a scan and confirmed it was the Tetralogy of Fallot and that he would need surgery.
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Ryder smiles as he clutches a stuffed animal and sits on the floor.
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Her being so involved and so in touch with everything that was going on was also so comforting, to the point he was not feeling well and I had taken him into the walk-in clinic. And before I was even out of the parking lot at the South University Clinic, she had called me on the phone to check in and see, how are you doing? Do you have any questions? And just that involvement and that reassurance of you’re doing everything right or this is what you can do to help him, but again, very involved and very comforting.
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She reads the book to Ryder and another boy.
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His surgery was the day after his six-month birthday. And he did so well with the surgery and did very well with recovery. So we got to celebrate Ryder’s first birthday in December and it was such a joyous day, because there was so many unknowns and so many ups and downs in his first year.
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Ryder walks away. She grabs the waist of his pants.
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SPEAKER 2: Hey, where you going?
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SPEAKER 1: Getting to see him walking around and playing. And what a little blessing and what an exciting day. It was quite the milestone to be able to get to and knowing that we have so many more ahead, but we made it through all of this. And that tough little guy is doing great he’s keeping on keeping on.
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Text, Like Nowhere Else. The Essentia Health logo appears, consisting of three leaves in a circle. Text, Essentia Health.
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