Heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular damage kill about half of Type 2 diabetes patients, as excess sugar in their blood steadily damages the heart and blood vessels.

At only three years old, an American toddler has become one of the youngest patients ever to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 cases increased 30.5 percent during that time span.

The girl, from a Hispanic family, was diagnosed when she was admitted to a clinic in Texas because she was obese.

“This girl was very young and was morbidly obese”.

She was born at term weighing 3.2kg(7lbs).

The family was found to have “poor nutritional habits” with a diet high in calories and fat, The Guardian reported. However, both her weight of 35 kilos (77 pounds) and her body mass index were in the top 5 percent of all children her age.

Based on test results and observation, doctors treated the girl with a liquid version of the diabetes drug metformin.

The girl quickly lost weight and her blood sugar levels normalized. Also, doctors decreased the quantity of metformin drug by 50% each month, finally putting an end to the use of the drug.

“But there are a small number – probably less than 100 – children aged under 10 in the United Kingdom who have Type 2 diabetes. I think to be certain these genetic tests should have been performed”.

BBC also reports that according to Yafi, an early diagnosis and change of lifestyle can increase a patient’s odds of becoming healthier and possibly reverse the condition. Type 2 diabetes was unknown in children in the United Kingdom before 2002.

Commenting on the research findings, Annemarie Schalkwijk from VU University Medical Centre, said: “We showed that limits on access to outdoor space is associated with future childhood obesity although moderated by education level”. 

The three-year-long Jardiance study enrolled 7,000 patients with type 2 diabetes that were at a high risk of cardiovascular (CV) events.

Yafi goes on to say, “The incidence of [type 2 diabetes] has increased dramatically worldwide in children due to the epidemic of child obesity”.

Dr. Yafi highly encourages parents to be observant and vigilant when it comes to their child’s health condition so that in cases of early diabetes diagnosis, proper treatment and intervention can be carried out and appropriate lifestyle and diet changes can be implemented to avoid further health complications.