ABSTRACT
Type 2 diabetes mellitus has been reported in children in Japan, the
United States, Pacific Islands, Hong Kong, Australia, and the United
Kingdom.1-6 Kitagawa et al.2 reported that type 2 diabetes was more
common than type 1 diabetes in Japan, accounting for 80% of child-
hood diabetes. The incidence almost doubled between 1976-80 and
1991-95.2 The proportion of patients with early onset type 2 diabetes
registered with the Diabetes Center, Tokyo Women’s Medical University
(TWMU) increased by 50% between 1960-1975 and 1986-1995 (TWMU
Thus, there is evidence that the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus
is higher in young Japanese than in young Caucasians.1,8 Since we first
reported the young age of onset of many Japanese with type 2 diabetes
attending our Diabetes Center in 1990,1 it has become obvious that
and show a higher incidence of diabetic nephropathy than that in Pima
Indians with type 2 diabetes or Caucasian type 1 diabetes patients of
comparable age.10 Our findings on long-term diabetic complications of
type 2 diabetes are felt to be representative of Japanese patients. Data on
complications in other Asian and non-Asian populations with adoles-
cent-onset type 2 diabetes are not available. In this chapter we describe
the long-term outcome of type 2 diabetes in adolescence (early-onset
type 2 diabetes) from our previous and later clinic-based observational
longitudinal studies.
