From the Chicago Tribune:

With an epidemic of obesity affecting American children and adolescents, doctors say a growing number are being diagnosed with chronic diseases once considered illnesses of adulthood.

In addition to the well-known rise in Type-2 diabetes among U.S. youths, overweight children also are suffering from fatty liver disease, hypertension, high cholesterol and sleep apnea. Health professionals are increasingly concerned, fearing the long-term impact of developing chronic diseases early in life.

“The earlier you develop diabetes, the more likely you are to develop complications,” said Dr. Paula Butler, chief of endocrinology at Mt. Sinai Hospital. “People will be having eye problems early, heart problems early, strokes early and go on dialysis. They will suffer knee and back pain, have sleep problems. They may not be able to work. It affects quality of life.”

From Medical News Today:

A new Harris survey reports that most baby boomers underestimate their risk of having a disability that would cause them to miss work for an extended period. The survey also found that baby boomers are unaware of the most common causes of disability and are not too concerned about their risk of becoming disabled.

The survey found that two-thirds of baby boomers think the chances of becoming disabled due to illness or injury are 20 percent or less. In reality, a worker has a 30 percent chance of losing three or more months of work due to disability before reaching retirement, according to the Social Security Administration.

One of the reasons baby boomers underestimate their risk is because they mistakenly believe that injuries cause more disabilities than illnesses. Research shows that the most common causes of disability are illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Children could be screened for genetic diseases, but parents should let them decide later. Why? Early detection doesn’t mean a cure, and there could be psychological risks.

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Valerie Ulene makes the point that not all genetic information is beneficial and some can be toxic. More often than not, she says, testing for a genetic abnormality brings only anguish, as parents and children are given information that will not help them prevent a disease or delay its onset.

… parents must realize that detection doesn’t necessarily lead to a cure. Currently, our ability to treat genetic diseases lags well behind our ability to identify the genetic changes that cause them.

From the Dallas Morning News:

For people living with diabetes, multiple sclerosis and other chronic conditions, blogs are increasingly providing support and information. Experts say blogging can be a useful tool for grappling with medical conditions and building connections with other people with shared experiences. At the same time, caution is urged: not all information out there is good information, and posters’ privacy can’t be assured.

In a letter to the editor of the Chicago Sun Times, Jim Radermacher calls for passage of the ADA Restoration Act. An excerpt:

Unfortunately, a series of Supreme Court decisions have narrowed who is covered by the [1990 ADA] so that many individuals with disabilities, including chronic illnesses like diabetes, epilepsy and cancer have found themselves no longer protected by the act because they don’t meet the very stringent definition of disability.

It is critical for Congress to pass the ADA Restoration Act, which will restore the basic rights of people with disabilities. Passage of this legislation harmonizes the ADA with other civil rights laws and enables people with disabilities to be judged just like everyone else — on their ability to do the job.

Radermacher is the Chicago Leadership Council Advocacy Chair of the American Diabetes Association.

See earlier posts here and here.

From Forbes, USA Today:

Diabetes-related medical and economic costs in the United States hit $174 billion in 2007, according to research commissioned by the American Diabetes Association. That’s as much as the combined costs of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism, and is more than the $150 billion in damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The report found that the cost of diabetes has swelled 32 percent since 2002, and accounts for about one in every five health-care dollars spent. Last year, the disease caused more than 284,000 deaths nationwide.

“The findings reaffirm that diabetes is a public health crisis and its implications are painful and far-reaching,” said Ann L. Albright, an official at the diabetes association. “This underscores the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. Diabetes becomes much more costly in financial and human terms when the disease is not properly treated.”

… Diabetes “will ruin a generation of Americans,” says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, a non-profit that represents large employers. Over the next few decades, she says, diabetes will handicap both state and local economies, as communities divert money from education and other important areas to care for patients.

From Reuters:

The number of U.S. girls taking diabetes drugs more than doubled between 2002 and 2005, almost certainly because of rising obesity, researchers reported.

Children of all ages are increasingly taking drugs originally formulated to treat adults with illnesses often caused by years of eating too much and exercising too little, the researchers told a meeting of the American Public Health Association.

They saw a 166 percent increase in type-2 diabetes prescriptions among girls aged 10 to 14 and a 135 percent increase among teenage girls 15 and above.