Substantial increase in new cases seen during first year of pandemic<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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WEDNESDAY, Aug. 31, 2022 (HealthDay News) — During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a 77.2 percent increase in new cases of type 2 diabetes among youth aged 21 years and younger, according to a study published online Aug. 17 in The Journal of Pediatrics<\/em>.<\/p>\n Sheela N. Magge, M.D., from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and colleagues examined the frequency and severity of new cases of youth-onset type 2 diabetes in the United States in the first year of the pandemic. In the multicenter, hospital-based, retrospective chart review, 3,113 youth aged 21 years and younger with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes between March 2018 and February 2021 were included; participants had a body mass index \u00e2\u0089\u00a585th percentile.<\/p>\n The researchers found that in the year during the pandemic, new cases of type 2 diabetes increased by 77.2 percent compared with the mean of the previous two years (1,463 cases versus 886 in 2019 and 765 in 2018). During the pandemic, there was a significant increase in the likelihood of presenting with metabolic decompensation and severe diabetic ketoacidosis.<\/p>\n “The results of this study of more than 3,100 patients with newly diagnosed diabetes demonstrate a dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the presentation of type 2 diabetes in youth, which was already rising in incidence and prevalence prior to the pandemic,” the authors write. “This has created a significant strain on pediatric endocrinology, general practitioner, and obesity providers, who have been managing this growing population with limited resources.”<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n