A Study of Diabetes in Young Individuals with Special Reference to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in young individuals is a serious concern for the society. Literature suggests that the incidence of T2DM is not only increasing, but also there is a shift of age of onset of T2DM toward younger age groups in India and worldwide. However, data about the frequency of T2DM among young subjects below 25 years of age are sparse in the Indian subcontinent. Hence, the current study was undertaken to find out the frequency and clinical profile of young individuals with T2DM in the departments of internal medicine and pediatrics in a tertiary care hospital. The aim of the study was to study the frequency and clinical profile of T2DM among young individuals with diabetes mellitus. The study was a cross-sectional observational study conducted in the Departments of General Medicine and Pediatrics at JSS Hospital, Mysuru, Karnataka, India, over a 2-year period. The subjects with age of onset of diabetes mellitus below 25 years were included in the study. They were categorized according to the C-peptide values as type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and T2DM. Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) was diagnosed with the age of onset of diabetes below 25 years with a strong family history of diabetes for three generations and no insulin requirement for metabolic control for 5 years after diagnosis. The statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 25). Of the 250 patients included in the study, 208 (83.2%) subjects were T1DM, 38 (15.2%) T2DM, and 4 (1.6%) with MODY. The mean age of onset of T1DM was 13.7 ± 6.201 years and T2DM was 23.28 ± 3.68 years. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference of young T2DM patients were more compared to T1DM, which were statistically significant P < 0.0001, and family history showed strong positivity in patients with young T2DM compared to T1DM. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TGs), and total cholesterol (TC) were more in young T2DM patients compared to T1DM which were statistically significant with P = 0.003 (LDL), P = 0.0015 (TG), and P = 0.03 (TC), respectively. T2DM, previously considered a middle-aged or elderly condition, is now commonly occurring in young adults and children, probably due to a growing epidemic of childhood obesity and lifestyle. Obesity and dyslipidemia were more in T2DM compared to T1DM among young diabetics.