Verified Document

Prevention Is Better Than Cure: Early Diagnosis Of Risk Term Paper

¶ … medical sciences, prevention is emphasized as the most desirable response to potential health issues. This has important implications for the way in which patients receive health care in hospitals and other health care settings. This is especially the case where new diagnostic tools have been researched to determine the likelihood of contracting conditions like diabetes. Populations such as young children can particularly benefit from this, since preventative action taken early in life becomes a lifestyle habit that influences the health for the duration of the person's life. Nowicka et al.'s (2011) article, "Utility of Hemoglobin A1c for Diagnosign Prediabetes and Diabetes in Obese Children and Adolescents," provides information about this diagnostic tool, which can then be used to help parents and children determine lifestyle changes to minimize the chances of contracting the condition. The article's objective is to focus on Hemoglobin A1c (A1C) as a diagnostic tool for diabetes and the likelihood for future diabetes in young children. The authors point out that data from previous studies have shown a positive correlation between A1C and the development of diabetes and microvascular complications in adulthood. Studies have not been conducted extensively on children, which prompted the work in question.

In terms of research design and methods, the authors focused their efforts on obse children and adolescents without a diabetes diagnosis. A multiethnic population of 1,156 participants were included...

Tests they underwent included an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and A1C measurement. After a follow-up time of 2 years, the test was repeated for 218 subjects.
The results showed that 77% of the population presented normal glucose tolerance, while 21% proved to be at risk for diabetes, and 1% had the condition. For those in the at-risk group, 47% were diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes. In the diabetes gropu, 62% were classified with type 2 diabetes by OGTT. Where the tests were repeated, the strongest predictors of 2-H gucose were baseline A1C and 2-h glucose. These results are independent of age, ethnicity, sex, fasting glucose, or follow-up time.

The conclusions indicate that, because an A1C of 6.5% is not a true indication of the level of prediabetes and diabetes in obese children and adolescents, it is not a very good diagnostic tool for the condition. According to the American Diabetes Association, there is low sensitivey and specificity, so hemoglobin by itself does not prove to be a good indicator of the condition.

The reasons for conducting the study include the fact that numerous studies have shown a strong correlation between A1C and the development of diabetes and some of its comorbitities. Furthermore, there is no requirement for a fasting state, A1C shows 3-4 monghts before glycemia and has low variability among individuals. According to studies examined by the authors, it also has a good correlation with complications…

Sources used in this document:
References

Ali, M.K., Echouffo-Tcheugui, J.B., and Williamson, D.F. (2012, Jan.) How Effective were Lifestyle Interventions in Real-World Settings that were modeled on the Diabetes Prevention Program? Health Affairs, 31(1). Retrieved from: http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/31/1/67.full.html

The Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. (2013, Apr.). The 10-Year Cost-Effectiveness of Lifestyle Intervention or Metformin for Diabetes Prevention: An intent-to-treat analysis of the DPP/DPPOS. Diabetes Care, 35(4). Retrieved from: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/4/723.full.pdf+html%20

Nowicka, P., Santoro, N., Liu, H., Lartau, D., Shaw, M.M., Goldberg, R., Gundalini, C., Savoye, M., Rose, P., and Caprio, S. (2011, June). Utility of Hemoglobin A1c for Diagnosign Prediabetes and Diabetes in Obese Children and Adolescents. Diabetes Care, 34(6). Retrieved from: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/34/6/1306.full
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Risk Management Plan for Paul
Words: 3505 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

Risk management is aimed at determining possible problems beforehand in order to plan and invoke risk-handling activities, as required, across the project's or product's life, for mitigating negative effects on attaining objectives. The process of risk management constitutes a key part of technical and business management systems; it is constant and forward-thinking. Risk management must deal with problems that threaten the attainment of key aims. A constant risk management strategy

New Technology the Best Cure
Words: 13809 Length: 50 Document Type: Term Paper

Taken in isolation, some of the new, minimally-invasive procedures are less expensive by far, when analyzed on a procedure-by-procedure basis, than previous significant surgical interventions, as demonstrated below: Procedure Cost Estimated duration of 'cure' CABG 5-7 years PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention 3-5 years Based on the above analysis, it would appear to be clear that a PCI is more cost-effective than CABG procedures. This may not be true when all costs are considered, however. The logic of

Diagnosis and Treatment Options for Pancreatic Cancer
Words: 2844 Length: 9 Document Type: Research Paper

Etiology of Pancreatic Cancer Pancreatic cancer has emerged as the most lethal human cancers. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has termed it an unresolved health problem of the 21st century. The disease presently causes about 30,000 deaths in the U.S. per year (Yarbro et al. 2015). Despite past efforts, conventional interventions like radiation, surgery, chemotherapy and combination of these had minimal success in the course of this aggressive disease.

Type II Diabetes Prevention While
Words: 4350 Length: 15 Document Type: Research Proposal

Medical Conditions -- There are a number of factors that can increase the likelyhood of type-2 diabetes: hypertension, eleveted cholesterol, and a condition called Symdrome X, or metabolic syndrome (combination of obesity, high cholesterol, sedentary lifestyle, stress, and poor diet). Cushing's syndrome, cortisol excess and testosterone deficiency are also associated with the disease. Often, it is a number of co-dependent conditions that seem to give rise to diabetes (Jack &

Epidemiology Definition and Description of Epidemiology the
Words: 1995 Length: 7 Document Type: Essay

Epidemiology Definition and Description of Epidemiology The word epidemiology was derived from the Greek words where "epi" means upon, "demos" means people, and "logos" means study. Epidemiology can be defined in detail as the study of distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the prevention and control of health problems. (Last, 2001) Here, in the definition the distribution refers to analysis of persons,

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
Words: 2543 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

Pelvic inflammatory disease, a critical problem Occurence or recurrence of pelvic inflammatory disease or PID has been linked to STIs such as C. trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Patient education and simplified guidelines are needed to develop accurate diagnosis. In order for changes to take place, more research must be done to understand the complex nature of the disease and the most effective and cost effective method of treatment. This paper delves

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now