What are some other risk factors for type 2 diabetes?
Dr. Kaufman: So these overweight, obese children who are developing type 2 have a very strong family history of type 2 diabetes. These children are mainly children of African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American and, particularly, Native American descent. So vigorous factor by race-ethnicity, and they also show signs of what we call insulin resistance. So some of them have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, some of the girls have polycystic ovary disease and then something called Acanthosis nigricans, which is darkening and thickening of the skin around the flexure areas, all of these things indicating that there is an element of insulin resistance. So obesity, genetics, race-ethnicity, insulin resistance and that’s really what comes together to cause type 2 diabetes in youth. Balintfy: Knowing what these risk factors are, is there anything that can be done to reduce the risk? Dr. Kaufman: So if you look at all the risk factors, many of them are not modifiable. You can’t change your
