Читать книгу Clinical Dilemmas in Diabetes - Группа авторов - Страница 36

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is one of the most widespread chronic disease occurring in children and young adults. In 2001, people with diabetes (all types included) were 177 million worldwide, in 2010 285 million, in 2019 approximately 463 million and it is predicted that some 700 million people worldwide will live with diabetes in 2045 [1].

As the prevalence of diabetes continues to rise worldwide, disease‐related morbidity and mortality are emerging as major healthcare problems. Epidemiologic data show that diabetes‐related long‐term complications begin early in the natural history of the disease . These findings indicate that early identification and management of individuals at increased risk of T1D has the potential to reduce both the clinical onset of the disease and its related complications.

The global incidence of T1D in children and adolescents is rising with an estimated overall annual increase of approximately 3%. These recent epidemiologic trends in T1D have been shown in countries having both high and low prevalence figures, with an indication of a steeper increase in some of the low‐prevalence countries. T1D accounts for about 10% of all cases of diabetes, occurs most commonly in people of European descent and affects 2 million people in Europe and North America [1]. The lowest incidence has been found in Asia and Oceania, the highest in Europe.

As far as its pathogenesis is concerned, T1D results from the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic insulin‐secreting β‐cells. Genetic, metabolic, and environmental factors act together to precipitate the onset of the disease. The excess mortality associated with diabetes‐related complications and the increasing prevalence of the disease among the youth, emphasize the importance of novel therapeutic strategies to prevent or slow down the autoimmune process.