In order to prevent and ultimately achieve a world without type 1 diabetes (T1D), we must first learn more about the disease. One trend that has revealed itself in recent years is an accelerating rate of T1D, especially among younger children. Last year, the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study reported that the prevalence of T1D in people under age 20 in the U.S. rose by 23 percent between 2001 and 2009. Other studies have shown that in European children one to five years of age, the incidence of T1D is increasing at a rate of 5.4 percent annually.
This increase in T1D creates additional urgency for research to understand and ultimately prevent and cure the disease. It also speaks to the need for more studies to gather data about T1D incidence rates and how they’re changing over time.
With that in mind, new research from the Philadelphia Pediatric Diabetes Registry revealed the incidence of type 1 diabetes among children in Philadelphia under age 5 increased by 70 percent in the past two decades. Furthermore, the study found overall T1D incidence in the city’s children up to age 14, increased by 29 percent from 1985 to 2004 (the average yearly rate of increase was 1.5 percent). The research, led by Dr. Terri H. Lipman of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, draws upon data from the only active U.S. diabetes registry, which Dr. Lipman has maintained since 1985.
While Dr. Lipman’s findings published in the recent issue of Diabetes Care, shed insight on the rising rate of diabetes in children in Philadelphia, they also highlight the importance of diabetes data centers in the U.S. and throughout the world. According to Dr. Lipman, improving and continuing research and data collection will help clarify the origins and epidemiology of these upward trends in pediatric diabetes. This knowledge will lead to a better understanding of T1D and will inform work to prevent and cure the disease.
Although JDRF did not fund this particular study, part of JDRF’s strategy is to drive research aimed at slowing and preventing the progression of T1D. As part of the program’s top priority areas, JDRF supports research studies following people over time who have, or are at risk of developing T1D to better characterize the disease process. JDRF’s recent News Blog entry, T1D Rise Among Youth Highlights the Importance of Renewed Research Funding shares an overview on such JDRF-funded prevention studies, including: