Search

Objective: To elucidate whether family characteristics and stressful life events were associated with onset of autoimmune type 1 diabetes in young adults.Research Design and Methods: This investigation was based on a nationwide study (Diabetes Incidence Study in Sweden) of newly diagnosed patients aged 15-34 years. Patients clinically classified as type 1 diabetic with antibodies to islet cells and/or to GAD65 were compared with age- and sex-matched control subjects via questionnaire. The questionnaire covered diabetes heredity, social environment, educational level, and life events experienced during the 12 months before diagnosis.Results: The rate of response was 82% for the diabetic patients and 65% for the control subjects. Questionnaires from 349 diabetic patients and 979 control subjects were considered. Diabetes in relatives was more frequent in the patients (odds ratio [OR]2.6) who were born in Sweden and whose mothers were of Swedish origin. No major stress factors were detected in the diabetic patients; however, in comparison with the control subjects, the diabetic patients had experienced fewer conflicts with their parents and had less often broken contacts with friends.Conclusions: Young adults with recent-onset type 1 diabetes were more exposed to heredity for diabetes, but no major prediabetic stress factors were detected. Our study does not directly support the concept that psychosocial stressful life events are involved in the development of autoimmune type 1 diabetes in young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To clarify whether the increase in childhood type 1 diabetes is mirrored by a decrease in older age-groups, resulting in younger age at diagnosis.Research Design and Methods: We used data from two prospective research registers, the Swedish Childhood Diabetes Register, which included case subjects aged 0-14.9 years at diagnosis, and the Diabetes in Sweden Study, which included case subjects aged 15-34.9 years at diagnosis, covering birth cohorts between 1948 and 2007. The total database included 20,249 individuals with diabetes diagnosed between 1983 and 2007. Incidence rates over time were analyzed using Poisson regression models.Results: The overall yearly incidence rose to a peak of 42.3 per 100,000 person-years in male subjects aged 10-14 years and to a peak of 37.1 per 100,000 person-years in female subjects aged 5-9 years and decreased thereafter. There was a significant increase by calendar year in both sexes in the three age-groups <15 years; however, there were significant decreases in the older age-groups (25- to 29-years and 30- to 34-years age-groups). Poisson regression analyses showed that a cohort effect seemed to dominate over a time-period effect.Conclusions: Twenty-five years of prospective nationwide incidence registration demonstrates a clear shift to younger age at onset rather than a uniform increase in incidence rates across all age-groups. The dominance of cohort effects over period effects suggests that exposures affecting young children may be responsible for the increasing incidence in the younger age-groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to estimate the current cumulative risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to diabetic nephropathy in a large, nationwide, population-based prospective type 1 diabetes cohort and specifically study the effects of sex and age at onset.Research Design and Methods: In Sweden, all incident cases of type 1 diabetes aged 0-14 years and 15-34 years are recorded in validated research registers since 1977 and 1983, respectively. These registers were linked to the Swedish Renal Registry, which, since 1991, collects data on patients who receive active uremia treatment. Patients with > or =13 years duration of type 1 diabetes were included (n = 11,681).Results: During a median time of follow-up of 20 years, 127 patients had developed ESRD due to diabetic nephropathy. The cumulative incidence at 30 years of type 1 diabetes duration was low, with a male predominance (4.1% [95% CI 3.1-5.3] vs. 2.5% [1.7-3.5]). In both male and female subjects, onset of type 1 diabetes before 10 years of age was associated with the lowest risk of developing ESRD. The highest risk of ESRD was found in male subjects diagnosed at age 20-34 years (hazard ratio 3.0 [95% CI 1.5-5.7]). In female subjects with onset at age 20-34 years, the risk was similar to patients' diagnosed before age 10 years.Conclusions: The cumulative incidence of ESRD is exceptionally low in young type 1 diabetic patients in Sweden. There is a striking difference in risk for male compared with female patients. The different patterns of risk by age at onset and sex suggest a role for puberty and sex hormones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the impact of age at onset on the development of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to diabetic nephropathy in a nationwide population-based cohort with childhood-onset type 1 diabetes.Research Design and Methods: A record linkage between two nationwide registers, the Swedish Childhood Diabetes Registry, including 12,032 cases with childhood-onset diabetes, and the Swedish Registry for Active Treatment of Uraemia was performed. Log-rank test was used to test differences between cumulative risk curves of developing ESRD due to diabetic nephropathy in three different strata of age at onset (0-4, 5-9, and 10-14 years).Results: At a maximum follow-up of 27 years, 33 patients had developed ESRD due to diabetic nephropathy and all had a diabetes duration >15 years. In total, 4,414 patients had diabetes duration >15 years, and thus the risk in this cohort to develop ESRD was 33 of 4,414 (0.7%). A significant difference in risk of developing ESRD was found between the youngest (0-4 years) and the two older (5-9 and 10-14 years) age-at-onset strata (P = 0.03 and P = 0.001, respectively). A significant difference in the risk of developing ESRD was also found between children with prepubertal (0-4 and 5-9 years, n = 2,424) and pubertal (10-14 years, n = 2000) onset of diabetes (P = 0.002). No patient with onset of diabetes before 5 years of age had developed ESRD.Conclusions: With a median duration of 21 years in this population-based Swedish cohort with childhood-onset diabetes, <1% of the patients had developed ESRD due to diabetic nephropathy, and a prepubertal onset of diabetes seems to prolong the time to development of ESRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To estimate the occurrence of early-onset renal involvement in a nationwide population-based cohort of young adults with diabetes in Sweden and relate the findings to glycemic control, type of diabetes, sex, smoking, and blood pressure.Research Design and Methods: The Diabetes Incidence Study in Sweden aims to register all incident cases of diabetes in the age-group 15-34 years. In 1987-1988, 806 patients were reported and invited to participate in a follow-up study focusing on microvascular complications. Of them, 469 subjects participated. The assessment was based on questionnaires (n = 469), blood samples (n = 424), urine samples (n = 251) and, when appropriate, medical records (n = 186).Results: During the follow-up time, median 9 years (range 6-12), 31 of 469 patients (6.6%) with incipient or overt diabetic nephropathy (i.e., micro- or macroalbuminuria) were found, 24 of 426 (5.6%) in type 1 and 7 of 43 (16%) in type 2 diabetic subjects (P = 0.016). Additionally, 24 of 31 patients (77%) had microalbuminuria and 7 (23%) had macroalbuminuria, which mainly occurred in patients with type 2 diabetes. In a Cox regression analysis, high mean HbA(1c) during the follow-up period and high blood pressure at follow-up increased the risk of developing signs of nephropathy (P = 0.020 and P = 0.003, respectively). Compared with patients with type 1 diabetes, those with type 2 diabetes tended to have an increased risk of renal involvement (P = 0.054) when adjusting for sex, tobacco use, glycemic control, and blood pressure.Conclusions: Despite modern treatment and self-monitoring of blood glucose, young adult patients with diabetes may still develop renal involvement during the first 10 years of diabetes duration. Inadequate HbA(1c), high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes appear to be risk markers for early occurrence of diabetic nephropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and severity of diabetic retinopathy (DR) 10 years after diagnosis in a nationwide population-based cohort study of young adult diabetic patients in Sweden.Research Design and Methods: The Diabetes Incidence Study in Sweden (DISS) aims to register all incident cases of diabetes aged 15-34 years in Sweden. In 1987-1988, 806 cases were reported, and 627 (78%) of them were followed up with regard to retinopathy 8-10 years later. The assessment was based on retinal photographs in most cases (86%).Results: Ten years after diagnosis, retinopathy was found in 247 patients (39%). The retinopathy was mild in 206 (33%), whereas 30 (4.8%) patients had moderate nonproliferative DR (NPDR) and 11 (1.8%) had proliferative DR (PDR). Patients with retinopathy had worse glycemic control during the years than patients without (HbA(1c) 8.1 +/- 1.5% and 6.8 +/- 1.2%, respectively; P < 0.001). In a Cox regression analysis, time to retinopathy was related to high HbA(1c) (P < 0.001) and high BMI (P = 0.001). Patients with type 2 diabetes had an increased prevalence of severe retinopathy (NPDR or PDR) compared with those with type 1 diabetes (14 of 93 [15%] versus no or mild 24 of 471 [5%], respectively; P < 0.001).Conclusions: Despite modern diabetes management, 39% of young adult diabetic patients developed retinopathy within the first 10 years of the disease. Nevertheless, compared with the prevalence of retinopathy (63%), after a similar duration of diabetes before the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, this prevalence was clearly lower. Current treatment aimed to achieve strict glycemic control has reduced the risk for developing retinopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]