If type 2 diabetes goes untreated then it can even cause serious illnesses like to heart attacks, or losing a limb, or losing sight, in their 30s and 40s.
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“I’m very vigilant and screen all obese children I see for signs of the disease but I was surprised to find it in someone so young”, said Yafi, according to the BBC. He also contended that genetic testing was an added expense that may not have been needed in this case or in his population without other factors being apparent.
A study conducted by researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan evaluated a potential link of long naps and excessive sleepiness during the day to type 2 diabetes.
This particular case, however, has set a shocking new record in the growing worldwide obesity crisis creating an outbreak due to fast food diet and lack of exercise. This girl, was “thought to be one of the youngest ever people to present with the condition”, said the statement.
With the lifestyle changes the toddler’s health improved dramatically.
The girl from Texas, America, who has not been named, was reportedly admitted to an obesity clinic after suffering from common symptoms such as thirst and urination.
Seeing a child so young with this disease is disheartening for her medical care providers.
The girl had been born at a normal weight of 3.2 kilograms. A review of her diet, however, revealed “poor family nutritional habits with uncontrolled counting of calories and fat”, Yafi says. The child is only 3-years-old and weighs 77 pounds, with a BMI in the top five percent of kids her age.
Doctors conducted tests to rule out causes of obesity, finding she had high fasting plasma glucose and hemoglobin, but tested negative for type 1 diabetes.
The study, paid for by Lilly and Boehringer, involved 7,000 people with Type 2 diabetes who already had cardiovascular disease, so they were at very high risk of further heart attacks and strokes. Also, doctors decreased the quantity of metformin drug by 50% each month, finally putting an end to the use of the drug.
The girl was put on a diet and given medication, and after six months, she had lost weight and was able to stop treatment, according to Reuters.
In addition to helping the young girl stave off an often times debilitating chronic condition, Yafi and his colleagues hope that her admittedly rare situation can provide some important lessons to other medical professionals.
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Yafi said the case showed that Type 2 diabetes could be reversed in children by early diagnosis, appropriate therapy and changes in lifestyle.
