More young people now get deadlier version of diabetes

NEW DELHI: Type-2 diabetes that normally afflicts older adults is striking young Indians and it’s striking them harder.

Though young people with type-2 diabetes do not need insulin to survive, they are at greater risk of life-threatening complications, such as kidney damage and heart disease, than people with insulin-dependent diabetes.

One in every four (25.3%) people under 25 with diabetes in India has adult-onset type-2 diabetes, which, by definition, should strike only older adults with a family history of diabetes, obesity, and unhealthy diets, data from the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR’S) youth diabetes registry shows.

“Youth-onset type-2 diabetes is no longer rare. Family history is strong and obesity, metabolic syndrome and acanthosis nigricans (dark, velvety skin patches) are usually seen in young patients with type-2 diabetes,” says Dr Tanvir Kaur, deputy director general, ICMR.

Type-2 diabetes in the young is more aggressive than in adults, the registry shows. “In the young, it is a different beast altogether. The risk of complications for younger persons with type-2 diabetes is twofold to threefold higher than type-1 diabetes,” says Dr Nikhil Tandon, professor and head of endocrinology and metabolism, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, which is partnering in the registry.

There are 70 million adults in India with diabetes, which affects 422 million people worldwide. Type-1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the immune system destroys the cells producing insulin.