Researchers recently discovered that children who suffer from diabetes are at an increased risk of developing an eating disorder. The cause of the risk is unknown, however, researchers at the Medical College of Georgia's Georgia Prevention Institute are attempting to determine if a child's diabetic condition or their prescription drug treatments are to blame for the over-eating disorder.

With funding from The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and assistance from Harvard and Emory Universities, researchers will follow 90 diabetic children between the ages of 10 to 17. The researchers will attempt to determine the causes of the over-eating disorder as well as to follow eating patterns, behaviors and "psychological adjustment," according to a Science Daily news article.

Childhood Diabetes

According to the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP), which is part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), type 1 diabetes may be increasing in children and many additional cases of type 2 diabetes are also being reported among children and adolescents.

Additionally, "diabetes is one of the most common diseases in school-aged children" and the National Diabetes Fact Sheet reports that "about 186,300 young people in the U.S. under age 20 had diabetes in 2007." It's important for parents/guardians to know and understand the identifiers for both types of diabetes in order to provide immediate treatment to children and adolescents who suffer from the condition. The Mayo Clinic reported the following signs and symptoms of type 1 and 2 childhood diabetes:

• increased thirst
• frequent urination
• extreme hunger
• weight loss
• blurred vision
• slow-healing sores
• frequent infections
• fatigue

Diabetic Drug Risks

While scientists continue to determine as to whether or not the children's diabetic medication is causing the eating disorder side effect, there have, unfortunately, been additional drugs that have been discovered to have damaging risks associated with consumption. For example, a diabetes drug known as Avandia, which was released in May 1999 from GlaxoSmithKline.

Avandia is part of a group of drugs known as thiazolidinediones. The drugs have been subject to investigation by both researchers and officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after an article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that the drug was causing unintended and severe side effects among patients. Most recently the drug has been subject to another study that was published in a recent issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal in which researchers from the University of East Anglia in Norwich found a strong link to the development of bone fractures and loss of bone density among women.

The study reinforces the alleged dangers associated with pharmaceutical prescription drugs such as Avandia. Patients who have suffered from the drug's side effects are encouraged to locate an Avandia attorney to learn how to develop an Avandia class action lawsuit in which monetary compensation may be awarded to a victim of the drug's dangers.