Obesity, hyperglycemia and endothelial function in inner city Bronx adolescents: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Along with the rise in obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become the major cause of death in developed countries. Although overt coronary heart disease rarely manifests during childhood, atherosclerosis can begin by the second decade of life. Therefore, identifying reliable risk markers of early vascular disease in childhood could be important. Alteration in endothelial function (EF) is an early preclinical marker of the atherosclerotic process and can be assessed non-invasively using reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT). The purpose of this study was to investigate if obesity in children is associated with lower EF as measured with RH-PAT, and if obese children with impaired glucose regulation have further impairment in RH-PAT measured EF compared to obese children with normal glucose tolerance. METHODS: Cardiovascular risk factors, adipocytokines and EF using RH-PAT were evaluated in lean (n = 14) and obese (n = 37) adolescents (age 12–18 years). Based on an oral glucose tolerance test, the obese group was subdivided into: obese with normal (NGT, n = 22) and obese with impaired glucose regulation (IGR, n = 15). RESULTS: RH-PAT score was lower in obese subjects compared to lean controls (1.70 ± 0.02 vs. 1.98 ± 0.09, P = 0.02), indicating worse EF. This difference remained significant when adjusted for age, sex and ethnicity (P = 0.02). We observed a pattern of worsening EF with increasing metabolic burden, with RH-PAT scores of 1.98 ± 0.09,1.73 ± 0.08 and 1.65 ± 0.12 in the lean, obese-NGT and obese-IGR groups, respectively, p(trend) = 0.03. Obese subjects were more insulin resistant [higher HOMA] (p = 0.03), and had higher levels of leptin (p = 0.004), hsCRP (p = 0.0004), and TNF-α (p = 0.03) compared to lean subjects. Adjusting for insulin resistance and adipocytokines substantially attenuated the obesity association with RH-PAT, suggesting that insulin resistance and inflammation may mediate the association of EF with obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors for adult cardiovascular disease, including impaired EF, insulin resistance and inflammation, are evident in obese adolescents. Whether early detection of these cardiovascular risk factors will be useful for informing interventions to prevent disease progression needs further study. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials Identifier: NCT0187903

Predictors of Lost to Follow-Up among Children with Type 2 Diabetes

Background/Aims: Youth with type 2 diabetes (T2D) have poor compliance with medical care. This study aimed to determine which demographic and clinical factors differ between youth with T2D who receive care in a pediatric diabetes center versus youth lost to follow-up for >18 months. Methods: Data were analyzed from 496 subjects in the Pe­diatric Diabetes Consortium registry. Enrollment variables were selected a priori and analyzed with univariable and multivariable logistic regression models. Results: After a median of 1.3 years from enrollment, 55% of patients were lost to follow-up. The final model included age, race/ethnicity, parent education, and estimated distance to study site. The odds ratio (99% confidence interval) of loss to follow-up was 2.87 (1.34, 6.16) for those aged 15 to <18 years versus those aged 10 to <13 years and 6.57 (2.67, 16.15) for those aged ≥18 years versus those aged 10 to <13 years. Among patients living more than 50 miles from the clinic, the odds ra tio of loss to follow-up was 3.11 (1.14, 8.49) versus those living within 5 miles of the site. Conclusion: Older adolescents with T2D are more likely to be lost to follow-up, but other socioeconomic factors were not significant predictors of clinic follow-up

New technologies for diabetes: a review of the present and the future

This review summarizes the technologies in use and in the pipeline for the management of diabetes. The review focuses on glucose meters, continuous glucose monitoring devices, insulin pumps, and getting clinicians connected to technologies. All information presented can be found in the public domain, and was obtained from journal articles, websites, product review tables in patient publications, and professional conferences. The technology concerns, ongoing development and future trends in this area are also discussed

Insight into hypoglycemia in pediatric type 1 diabetes mellitus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Hypoglycemia is a common complication of insulin treatment in type 1 diabetes mellitus and can occur in any patient with diabetes when glucose consumption exceeds supply. Many studies have been done to elucidate those factors that predict severe hypoglycemia: younger age, longer duration of diabetes, lower HgbA_1c, higher insulin dose, lower Body Mass Index, male gender, Caucasian race, underinsurance or low socioeconomic status, and the presence of psychiatric disorders. Hypoglycemia can affect patients' relationships, occupation, and daily activities such as driving. However, one of the greatest impacts is patients' fear of severe hypoglycemic events, which is a limiting factor in the optimization of glycemic control. Therefore, the importance of clinicians’ ability to identify those patients at greatest risk for hypoglycemic events is two-fold: 1) Patients at greatest risk may be counseled as such and offered newer therapies and monitoring technologies to prevent hypoglycemic events. 2) Patients at lower risk may be reassured and encouraged to improve their glycemic control. Since the risk of long-term complications with poor blood glucose control outweighs the risks of hypoglycemia with good blood glucose control, patients should be encouraged to aim for glucose concentrations in the physiologic range pre- and post-prandially. Advancements in care, including multiple daily injection therapy with analog insulin, continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, and continuous glucose monitoring, have each subsequently improved glycemic control and decreased the risk of severe hypoglycemia.</p

Twenty-Four-Hour Simultaneous Subcutaneous Basal-Bolus Administration of Insulin and Amylin in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Decreases Postprandial Hyperglycemia

Context: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of continuous sc replacement of amylin and insulin for a 24-h period on glucose homeostasis in adolescents with type 1diabetes