to prevent diabetes in teens
A Yale researcher known for helping adolescents control their diabetes has just been awarded a $313,000 federal grant to see if her methods can actually prevent the disease in youths at high risk for it.
Margaret Grey, associate dean for research affairs at the Yale School of Nursing (YSN), previously demonstrated that a behavioral intervention called "coping skills training" can significantly improve metabolic control in youths with type 1 diabetes, often called juvenile diabetes. The gains made by the adolescents in the study were so significant that, if sustained over time, they would result in an average of 25% fewer long-term complications.
Coping skills training, adapted from a model used to prevent drug abuse in adolescents, helps youths negotiate the constant demands of glucose monitoring, insulin injection and dietary vigilance while also dealing with the pressures that define the teen years. Methods include problem solving exercises and role playing.
While type 1 diabetes cannot currently be prevented, type 2 diabetes, which is closely associated with obesity, can often be avoided through sensible weight management. Type 2 diabetes was once seen almost exclusively in adults, but with 25% of American teens suffering from obesity, type 2 is becoming increasingly common in younger populations. Obesity is particularly common among inner-city teens.
Grey's new study will explore whether the same coping skills training can be used to support adolescents as they eat healthier and become more active, thereby managing their weight and avoiding the onset of diabetes.
"Type 2 diabetes is very hard to treat in adolescents," Grey says. "Oral agents are not approved for pediatric patients. Insulin actually makes the problem worse because, while it controls blood sugar, it also makes the kids gain more weight. Obviously the key is to prevent obesity in the first place."
Grey adds that even postponing the onset of type 2 diabetes has significant benefits for adolescents. Generally complications -- the extremes of which include blindness, amputation and kidney failure -- take about 20 years from the time of diagnosis to develop. For most patients, that means that they will have complications when they become elderly. But adolescents developing type-2 diabetes can expect such complications in their thirties, she notes.
The study will enroll 50 students from New Haven middle schools. The children will be followed for a period of one year. Grey will be joined in the research by Sonia Caprio, of the Yale Pediatric Weight Management Clinic, and Kathleen Knafl, Catherine Gilliss, Gail Melkus and Elaine Gustafson, all of YSN.
T H I S
Bulletin Home
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Dean David Kessler awarded Public Welfare Medal for leadership on health issues
Psychologist Karen Wynn cited for pioneering study . . .
New director of Beinecke Library named
Fossil sheds light on rare branch of birds' evolutionary tree
Yale-funded center helps bring start-up companies to city
Lilly Endowment grants will help fund initiatives at the Divinity School, ISM
Directors, actors take part in symposium on Irish film
'A Yale Album' captures century of history in photos
Benson reappointed to second term as dean of School of Art
Talks trace the evolution of the 'democratic soul'
Nuns' library donation reveals new aspects of artist's life
Beinecke exhibit explores 18th-century views of theater
MEDICAL SCHOOL NEWSNew technique silences sounds of snoring
Yale group to assist Defense Dept. in health care mission
Researchers now have both 'lock' and 'key' that can open door . . .
Mt. Everest climb offered 'extreme' test for long-distance monitors
Projections thinner than a hair believed to play major role . . .
Dr. Dorothy Horstmann dies -- key in development of polio vaccine
Former faculty member Dr. William E. Bloomer dies
Paula Armbruster honored for her work with children
Illustrator is inaugural Theodore Fellow
Exhibition will feature paintings by Gelernter
Historian David Kennedy to discuss World War II
Grant supports nurse's effort to prevent diabetes in teens
ITS announces appointment of new CMI director
Art gallery appoints its first deputy director
Musicologist Claude Palisca, scholar of Baroque opera, dies
|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News|Bulletin Board
Yale Scoreboard|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Production Schedule
Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs Home|News Releases|
E-Mail Us|Yale Home Page