Those with a family history of thyroid and diabetes
Specialist in endocrinology and metabolic diseases Prof. Dr. Hulusi Atmaca gave information about endocrine diseases in children and adolescents. Talking about what endocrine diseases are, Prof. Dr. Atmaca said: “Endocrine diseases such as diabetes, obesity, thyroid-parathyroid disease, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, pituitary-adrenal disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome – hirsutism and hormonal hypertension are common diseases in society One in three adults has at least one endocrine disease.
“Being overweight can be the cause”
Referring to the factors that cause endocrine diseases, Prof. Dr Atmaca said: “The frequency of these diseases in children and adolescents differs compared to adults. Although type 1 diabetes is more common in this age group, there has been an explosion in the frequency of insulin resistance, latent diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes since primary school age, with the increase in the frequency of overweight (obesity) and its emergence at earlier ages On the other hand, thanks to developments in diabetes technology, the development of glucose sensors that continuously measure subcutaneous glucose, increasing the frequency of fingertip blood glucose measurements in diabetes type 1 decreases sharply, and the development of insulin pumps that control blood sugar and insulin pumps that automatically adjust the rate of blood glucose in children with type 1 diabetes. It has brought a lot of convenience in terms of quality of life.”
Genetic factors should not be ignored
According to Prof. Dr. Atmaca said: “The clinical effect of the diseases in question is more serious. The effect of excessive (hyperthyroidism) or below average (hypothyroidism) activity of the thyroid gland, which functions as the body’s powerhouse, is much more apparent in skeletal development, height growth, and mental function development in children. Again, thyroid nodules in these age groups have a higher risk of cancer. It should not be neglected that children with a family history of thyroid disease and diabetes, who have growth and developmental problems, who fail to show the expected performance in school and who gain weight rapidly, should be screened for diabetes, insulin resistance and thyroid disease.