Sheela Magge, director of the Johns Hopkins Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, discusses the latest research regarding the rise of type 2 diabetes among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts used data from 24 clinics across the U.S. to track the sharp increase.
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Listen as the director of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Sheela Magge, discusses the latest research regarding the rise of type 2 diabetes among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Click to Tweet
Hello. My name is Dr Sheila McGee and I'm the division director of pediatric endocrinology and diabetes at johns Hopkins. My area of particular interest is used onset type two diabetes as you know, type two diabetes, which used to be thought of as an adult disease has increased in youth with increases in pediatric obesity During the pandemic. I. And other pediatric endocrinologists noticed what seemed to be an increase in the numbers of new onset Type two diabetes in youth and in its severity. But given that rates of diabetes wax and wane over time, we could not be sure that this was associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. So in collaboration with colleagues at the University of colorado School of Medicine, we gathered data from 24 pediatric diabetes centers across the US to compare the rates of new onset type two diabetes among youth 8 to 21 years old in the two years prior to the pandemic. To the first year of the pandemic. We identified over 3000 youth during that period and found that the average number of new diagnoses per year in the first year of the pandemic increased by 77% compared to the pre pandemic years. Also, we found that 21% of young people diagnosed presented with what we called metabolic decompensation compared to 9% of Children during the pre pandemic years and this metabolic decompensation meant that they were quite ill, often needing to be admitted to the intensive care unit. In addition, we know that in general youth onset type two diabetes affects more girls than boys. However, during the first year of the pandemic we found that more boys were diagnosed with Type two diabetes compared to girls, which is a reversal of what we saw during the pre pandemic years. Also the disparities that we see in youth onset Type two diabetes, which disproportionately affects our ethnic and racial minorities, were exacerbated during the pandemic. We saw rates among Hispanic youth almost doubled during the first year of the pandemic, and the number of diagnoses among black youth doubled as well. So all of these disparities in presentation were quite alarming and we'll need to see what happens to our youth as they continue to progress. Thank you for your interest.
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