2023-09-29 14:36:44
Until now, researchers thought that children and adolescents with diabetes reached puberty a little later than their healthy peers. A current study from Germany now shows that puberty in girls and boys with diabetes has shifted forward over the past 20 years. The study is important because the changed hormonal structure during puberty has a major influence on the insulin therapy of children and adolescents.
On average, young people with type 1 diabetes reach puberty six months earlier than they did 20 years ago. Over this period, a recent study was able to demonstrate how the age limit is gradually moving forward. This is important because the changed hormonal constellation during puberty also influences metabolism – and changes in metabolism can mean that people with type 1 diabetes need more or less insulin. Puberty is therefore a phase in which it is difficult for many young people to keep their diabetes under constant control and to achieve good blood sugar levels.
Until now, the following was true: Type 1 diabetes means a later onset of puberty
Previously, type 1 diabetes had always been associated with a later onset of puberty – the current study of 65,518 children aged six to 18 now suggests that this may have changed. The children examined were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes between 2000 and 2021. The earlier onset of puberty affected both boys and girls. The results were clearer in children who had either developed diabetes very early in their lives, were overweight or had very low blood sugar levels.
In healthy girls it has been observed for some time that the onset of puberty is pushed further and further forward. Factors such as body weight, illnesses and genetics have also been linked to earlier puberty. “While the results for girls are consistent with previous research, our study is groundbreaking because it shows for the first time a similar trend in boys with type 1 diabetes,” says lead researcher Felix Reschke from the Auf der Bult Children’s Clinic in Hanover. It is now assumed that puberty in boys with diabetes will now occur shortly before the age of 12 (more precisely at 11.98 years).
Studies on puberty in children with diabetes are important for treatment
It is not yet clear whether and what causes the earlier onset of puberty. The results of further studies on this topic might be exciting for children with diabetes and the doctors treating them, because if we learn more regarding how the metabolism of children with diabetes changes during puberty, these children can receive better therapy. Children with type 1 diabetes inject the missing hormone using an insulin pump or insulin pen. In order to achieve good blood sugar levels, it is important that the exact amount of insulin required is administered. Those who understand metabolic processes better can better estimate when and how much insulin is needed.
Diabetes in childhood can lead to serious long-term damage
It is important that children and young people with type 1 diabetes achieve good blood sugar levels even during puberty in order to improve the well-being of diabetics and minimize the long-term damage of the disease. These include heart and vascular diseases as well as nerve, kidney and retinal damage. The long-term damage mentioned is usually caused by long-term elevated blood sugar.
The current study, Earlier Occurrence of Puberty and Pubertal Hair Development in Boys and Girls – Insights from the DPV Initiative Data, was presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology (ESPE 2023) in The Hague. The entire conference program You will find here.
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This topic in the program:MDR THURINGIA | MDR Thuringia Journal | August 19, 2023 | 7:00 p.m
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