Kidney Disease May Develop in Young Diabetics

Young diabetics are at risk for kidney disease during the first 10 years after diagnosis, even if they have good sugar control. In fact, the risk is greater for those with type 2 diabetes, a report published recently in Diabetes Care suggested. The researchers based their conclusions on a study of 469 patients between the ages of 15 and 34 years who were diagnosed with diabetes between 1987 and 1988. Of the group, 426 were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and 43 with type 2 diabetes. After 9 years, the researchers found that 6.6% of the patients had developed kidney disease. Usually, it took 8 years after the diabetes diagnosis to develop kidney disease. Sixteen percent of type 2 diabetics developed kidney disease, compared with 5.6% of type 1 diabetics. Furthermore, the kidney disease was more severe with type 2 diabetes.