Figures from the National Institute of Public Health indicate that people with diabetes in Mexico increased, since, in 2018, individuals aged 20 or older who had it were equivalent to 16.8%, but by 2022 it increased to 18.3 percent. It is a relevant fact, since the current estimate for the world population is 10.5% (536 million people) and it is expected that in 2045 it will be 12.2% (783 million).
Marcela Agudelo Botero, professor at the Faculty of Medicine, attached to the Center for Research in Policies, Population and Health (CIPPS), points out that these projections at the national and international level are a wake-up call for take urgent action; just the number of young people who start with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) from an early age due to overweight, physical inactivity or a history of the disease in their family, among others.
The Pan American Health Organization It is estimated that 62 million people on the American continent live with T2D, a number that has tripled since 1980 in the same region and, according to the Diabetes Atlas, is expected to reach 109 million by 2040; In low- and middle-income countries this prevalence has increased more than in high-income nations.
When we talk about T2D, we generally have the idea that this is a disease that mainly affects – and almost exclusively – middle-aged or older adults. However, what has been recorded, both in the world and in Mexico, is that there has been an increase in the mortality rate and the burden of the disease in individuals under 40 years of age,” the university student stressed for Gaceta UNAM.
He pointed out the need to care for young people, the group where the incidence and prevalence of T2D increased, which is why need more research to understand the epidemiology, clinical development and factors of the disease in this group, since there is a probability that this condition is underdiagnosed at stages of their life. Underdiagnosis is an error that occurs when something present is not identified, but institutions such as the Mexican Council of Internal Medicine have detected it.
The price of illness
“We know that diseases like T2D have an important relationship with socioeconomic conditions, access to health services and general living conditions. This disease arises from the combination of different risk factors: genetic, social, environmental, nutritional, among others. “All of them are important and have a direct relationship with this type of illness,” said the academic.
He also highlighted that data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) 2018-2019 showed that the presence of two or more diseases (cardiometabolic multimorbidity) in people aged 20 years affected 27.6% of the population to which the aforementioned study was applied, while, in the group of 20 to 39 years, the prevalence was 12.5% and although it is a lower number, it reveals a significant number of people living with different conditions (such as T2D, hypertension and obesity) that will affect your quality of life.
Addressing childhood obesity in Mexico alone will cost $30 billion annually, according to the study “Investment case for the prevention and reduction of childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity in Mexico”made by UNICEF and the Research Triangle Institute, also causes effects from children to adulthood in different aspects of life, such as school and work.
Regarding this, Agudelo Botero commented that the “Global Burden of Disease Study” (GBD) reported that T2D in those under 40 years of age increased significantly between 1990 and 2019; The number of deaths rose 45.3% and the years of healthy life lost increased 31.3 percent.
To do?
The specialist mentioned that, in childhood and youth with T2D have signs and symptoms that varycontrary to when the same people have T1D, so it is important to identify the risk factors present (such as obesity, for example) and go to a doctor to indicate the appropriate treatment and thus avoid other chronic conditions.
He proposed that health services design “strategies and actions aimed at addressing the needs of this population. “The clinical profile of young people with T2D cannot be generalized, because we must also consider that childhood and adolescence are stages of life in which many physical changes and lifestyle changes are experienced.”
It must also be taken into account that some adolescents begin to smoke or drink alcohol at increasingly younger ageswhich must be assessed to have a timely diagnosis and prevent the disease from becoming present, growing and causing complications.
