Huge Decline in Children's Diabetes Deaths Due to Better Diagnosis, Treatment

Diabetes-related deaths among children and teens in the country have come down significantly in the recent past, a federal report says.

A latest estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found diabetes-related mortality among children and teens declining by 61 percent from 1968 to 2009.

Death rates have considerably decreased among children below 10 years than others (78 percent decrease). Death rates among children and teens aged between 10 and 19 dropped by 52 percent. For the study, the researchers used data from National Vital Statistics System that included details about diabetes deaths in the country between 1968 and 2009.

According to the agency, improvement in diabetes diagnosis and medical care are the main reasons that led to the improved survival rates.

The researchers wrote "deaths resulting from diabetes in youths potentially are preventable, and these findings indicate a need for improved diabetes diagnosis and care, especially among youths aged 10 to 19 years, whose risk for diabetes-related mortality appears to have increased in recent years," Health Day reported.

More awareness should be spread to prevent young children dying from diabetes related issues, according to health experts.

"Physicians need to emphasize diabetes awareness, lifestyle modification, psychological issues, and use of insulin pumps in young diabetic patients," Dr. Spyros Mezitis, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, who was not involved with the study said Health Day.

Findings of the study have been published Nov.1 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Every year about 150,000 children in the country are diagnosed with diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when pancreatic cells (produce hormone insulin that regulates blood sugar in the body) are destroyed by immune system of the body. Type 1 diabetes requires daily insulin injections to survive.

In Type 2 diabetes, body develops resistance to insulin. Type 2 diabetes normally affects people aged 40 or above. However, recently there was a huge increase among children affected with this type of diabetes.

Children with diabetes are at risks of developing a series of health risks like heart disease, kidney disease, blindness and stroke.