Xinhua News Agency, Chengdu, July 25 (Reporter Dong Xiaohong) The 14-year-old Tongtong is still in junior high school in Chengdu, but recently he has the identity of a "little candy man".
"Children usually like to eat meat and grow fatter, but I didn't expect to get diabetes at such a young age." Ms. Li, Tongtong's mother, took her child to the hospital and found that Tongtong's various physical indicators showed that she was a type 2 diabetic.
For a long time, diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cerebral apoplexy have been considered as "senile diseases", and the majority of the affected groups are elderly patients.
However, a recent investigation by a reporter from "Xinhua Viewpoint" found that some young people in their twenties, thirties and even teens also suffered from "senile diseases".
"Geriatric disease" young patients on the rise
The reporter recently visited the relevant "Geriatric Diseases" departments of many hospitals in Sichuan and found that many young people are seeing a doctor.
Many front-line doctors said that diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. were regarded as "senile diseases" in the past, and now the diagnosed patients are getting younger and younger.
"There are more and more young 'sugar people' in outpatient clinics, and many young people have high blood sugar." Li Huaqi, deputy director of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Chengdu Third People's Hospital, told reporters that in recent years, the department has diagnosed diabetic patients. There is a trend of younger people, and many young people in their 20s and 30s are also suffering from diabetes.
21-year-old Xiao Chen works in an Internet company in Chengdu. Recently, he always felt dizzy and weak, thinking that he was tired from work and did not have enough rest. He went to the hospital to check and was told that he was already a "sugar man", and his fasting blood sugar was seriously exceeded, and he needed immediate medication intervention.
"I usually like to eat sweets, I often drink milk tea, sometimes several cups a day. I always feel young and healthy, but I didn't expect to have diabetes." Xiao Chen said.
The reporter's survey found that in addition to diabetes, traditional "old diseases" such as hypertension and stroke also "target" young people.
Clinical data from many hospitals show that in the past 30 years, the age of onset for diseases that are usually considered "senile diseases", such as hypertension, diabetes, cerebral infarction, and myocardial infarction, has continued to decline.
According to the "China Stroke Prevention and Control Report (2020)" compiled by experts from the Stroke Prevention and Control Engineering Committee of the National Health and Medical Commission, the data from the "National Stroke High Risk Population Screening and Intervention Project" from 2012 to 2016 showed that stroke patients aged 40 and above suffered from stroke. The average age of patients with first onset was 60.9 to 63.4 years old, and the age group of 40 to 64 years old accounted for more than 66% of the first onset age group.
The report also pointed out that the average age of stroke patients in developed countries is about 75 years old.
Overall, the incidence of stroke in my country shows a younger trend.
"Clinically, the number of stroke patients in their 20s and 30s has increased in recent years. Among them, there are even teenagers under the age of 18." said Liu Hua, director of the Department of Neurology at Chengdu Third People's Hospital.
According to the "White Paper on Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Health of Chinese Young and Middle-aged" issued by the National Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease Alliance, one out of every six patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and high-risk individuals in China is a "post-90s".
Zhang Zhen, acting director of the Cardiovascular Department of the Third People's Hospital of Chengdu, said that he had seen patients with myocardial infarction in their 20s.
"Geriatric Disease" Rejuvenates for Three Reasons
Why is the younger trend of "senile diseases" increasingly prominent?
——The "catalysis" of the unhealthy lifestyle of young people.
Experts such as Li Huaqi, Liu Hua, and Zhang Zhen told reporters that nowadays, with fast-paced work and high pressure in life, many young patients with "senile diseases" have some bad living habits.
For example, staying up late, sedentary, eating takeaway, irregular meals, overeating, alcoholism, etc.
In addition to the inheritance of susceptibility genes, many young patients diagnosed with "senile diseases" are caused by these acquired bad habits.
In addition, some doctors told reporters that while some young people are drinking, smoking, eating and drinking without taking care of their health, on the other hand, they take medicine randomly according to "home remedies", which accelerates the development of the disease.
- The awareness rate is low, the inspection rate is low, and the treatment rate is low.
Taking diabetes as an example, national epidemiological data show that the awareness rate of diabetes patients in China is currently around 30%. After being diagnosed with diabetes, the treatment rate of patients is around 26%. The rate is only about 40%.
There is still a lot of room for strengthening the management of diabetes patients.
The "White Paper on Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Health of China's Young and Middle-aged" released in 2019 pointed out that in recent years, my country's cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases have become younger, and 64.4% of people have not received medical treatment.
- Young people have weak awareness of nutrition and health.
The reporter found that many teenagers like to buy all kinds of "junk food", and some parents take a laissez-faire attitude, thinking that as long as they eat it, it doesn't matter much.
Many doctors said that this kind of behavior will put hidden dangers to the children's health.
Strengthen early intervention management
Preventing more and more young people from suffering from "senile diseases" requires the joint efforts of the whole society.
Experts call for strengthening the popularization of health nutrition knowledge, increasing the awareness rate of "senile diseases" among young people, and allowing more people to understand and master preventive measures for common "senile diseases".
The "Healthy China 2030" Planning Outline pointed out that it is necessary to build a national medical science and technology innovation system and build a demonstration center for clinical medical data such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular.
Experts call for speeding up the construction of clinical medical data demonstration centers for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, diabetes, stroke and other "gerontal diseases", and strengthening national-level intervention and management of young people's health risks.
Experts said that risk prediction models can play an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other "senile diseases", and can speed up the formulation of different intervention management plans for different risk groups such as young people and the elderly.
The integrated application of the current Internet medical platform is conducive to strengthening the health management of "senile diseases" such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Experts such as Zhang Zhen believe that the management of "senile diseases" such as diabetes, hypertension, and stroke is a long-term process of continuous adjustment as the disease progresses.
With the interconnection of medical information and the integration of high-tech such as artificial intelligence, "Internet + medical treatment" is more in line with the medical habits of young patients.