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Your Birth "Choice" Could Give your Juvenile Diabetes
- May 31, 2009 at 12:27 AM
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Mothers' birth choices linked to rise in childhood diabetes
By
Jenny Hope
Last updated at 3:10 AM on 28th May 2009
The increasing trend for Caesarean births may be linked to a rise in diabetes cases
The increasing popularity of Caesarean births and having children later in life are contributing to a dramatic rise in cases of diabetes in young children.
The number of children under five with Type 1 diabetes is likely to double by 2020 and there are 'substantial' increases among older children, say researchers.
Modern lifestyles are partly to blame, with children born to older mothers and by Caesarean section being at greater risk, while reduced exposure to germs is also a factor.
Doctors say all these factors reflect the fact that Type 1 diabetes and the development of a child's immunity system are linked.
Increased height and weight among infants, and rapid growth during the first year of life are also contributory factors, says a report published on the The Lancet medical journal's Online First website.
It looked at data from 17 European countries from 1989-2003 when there was an overall rise of almost 4 per cent a year in incidence of Type 1 diabetes, with the biggest rise of 5.4 per cent among 0 to four year olds.
In the UK, around 700 children under five were diagnosed with the condition in 2005, which is expected to rise to around 1,500 in 2020.
About 250,000 people in the UK have Type 1 diabetes, many of whom are children and young adults. Most need insulin injections daily to control the illness which, when poorly managed, can lead to long-term complications such as blindness, kidney failure and heart disease. There is no cure.
Around two million people have Type 2 diabetes, which develops later in life and is linked to obesity.
Dr Chris Patterson of Queen's University, Belfast, one of the report's authors, said the increasing number of cases over time was so rapid that it cannot be related to genetic factors alone.
'Environmental factors are driving this,' he said. 'We know children born to older mothers, for example, are more at risk. There is a 20 per cent extra risk for babies born as a result of Caesarean section, while those putting on weight rapidly during the first year of life are also at increased risk. Breastfeeding reduces the risk.
'In addition there are other environmental issues behind the rising trend, such as children being exposed to fewer germs.
'Type 1 diabetes is very much involved in the development of the immune system - which, in the case of Type 1 diabetes, turns on the body and stops it producing insulin. But it is still a rare disease.'
Dr Iain Frame, director of research at the charity Diabetes UK, said: 'This evidence that children are developing Type 1 diabetes at an increasingly younger age is worrying.
'Parents have the task of giving their children or babies insulin injections several times a day.'
He said their children would be at risk of short-term complications such as hypoglycaemic episodes - where the brain does not get enough energy through blood sugars - or diabetes ketoacidosis - where the blood can become dangerously acidic - both of which may require hospital treatment.
Dr Frame added that the increasing risk in children was 'too steep to be put down to just genetic factors, so it must be due to other environment factors'.
He added: 'Other research has suggested factors including low and increased birth weight, an increase in the number of Caesarean section births and, possibly, a reduced frequency of early infections.
'However, a lot more research is needed before we can come to any concrete conclusions about the causes of this rise in Type 1 diabetes in younger children.'
Comments:
I bet it has a lot to do with the fact that women who have c-sections, especially elective, are generally not the people who care about breastfeeding as much either. I mean, not to say women who are dedicated to breastfeeding can't end up NEEDING a c-section, but generally they're going to avoid it. People who choose an elective c-section are more likely to formula feed. We KNOW that's related to diabetes.
(I'm rambling, but you get my meaning, right?)
Totally get your meaning. Those committed to more natural (and by natural I do not mean just VAGINAL with epidural, pain meds, episiotomy, formula feeding, vaccinations, etc) means are in general going to have healthier lifestyles.
One day when all of these things are figured out there will be a lot of people doing facepalms.
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Such a shame that we are so far from nature. While some women have been misled to feel they didn't have a choice with their birth, women need to realize there are CONSEQUENCES for overmedicalization, vaccinations, and modern "convenience".
- KnoxvilleDoula
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