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Rise in type 2 diabetes among young people over past 30 years

Rates of type 2 diabetes in adolescents and young adults globally have risen substantially from 1990 to 2019, according to an analysis of the latest data from over 200 countries and regions published in The BMJ. The researchers used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 to estimate new cases (incidence), deaths and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) due to type 2 diabetes in adolescents and young adults (aged 15–39 years) from 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2019. They also examined the proportional DALY attributable to different risk factors, and data were assessed by age, sex and sociodemographic index. The results showed that the age‐standardised incidence rate for type 2 diabetes in adolescents and young adults globally increased from 117 per 100000 population in 1990 to 183 per 100000 in 2019, and the age‐standardised DALY rate increased from 106 per 100 000 in 1990 to 150 per 100 000 in 2019. The age‐standardised mortality rate modestly increased from 0.74 per 100000 in 1990 to 0.77 per 100000 in 2019. When grouped by countries with different sociodemographic indexes, countries with a low‐middle and middle sociodemographic index had the highest age‐standardised incidence rate and age‐standardised DALY rate in 2019, whereas countries with a low sociodemographic index had the lowest age‐standardised incidence rate but the highest age‐standardised mortality rate. Women generally had higher mortality and DALY rates than men at ages under 30 years, but differences between the sexes were reversed in those aged over 30 years except in countries with a low sociodemographic index. The main attributable risk factor for DALY for early onset type 2 diabetes was high body mass index in all regions by sociodemographic index. However, the contribution of other risk factors varied across regions, with higher proportions of ambient particulate air pollution (12% v 7%) and smoking (13% v 4%) in countries with a high sociodemographic index and higher proportions of household air pollution from solid fuels (17% v 0.07%) and diet low in fruit (9% v 6%) in countries with a low sociodemographic index.

Who is more likely to have long term health effects of COVID‐19?

A recent analysis published in the Journal of Internal Medicine has identified several characteristics associated with a higher likelihood of receiving a post‐COVID‐19 condition diagnosis. In the study of 204805 individuals who tested positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 in Stockholm, Sweden from March 2020 through to July 2021, the proportion receiving a post‐COVID‐19 condition diagnosis was 1% among individuals not hospitalised for their SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, 6% among hospitalised, and 32% among individuals treated in intensive care units. Female sex, previous mental health disorders, and asthma were associated with post‐COVID‐19 condition among non‐hospitalised and hospitalised individuals. Among individuals with a post‐COVID‐19 condition, use of outpatient care was substantially elevated up to one year after the acute infection. “In this study, we observed a marked difference in the occurrence of post‐COVID‐19 condition diagnosis across different severities of the acute infection,” said corresponding author Pontus Hedberg, MD and postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institutet. “Furthermore, the elevated outpatient primary and specialist care use indicates poor recovery for individuals suffering from a post‐COVID‐19 condition, highlighting the urgent need to better understand this condition and its potential resolution over time.”