Hospiten Roca in Gran Canaria has recently incorporated a new pediatric endocrinology service in Vecindario with the aim of treating, among other pathologies, diabetes mellitus Type 1, a widespread condition in the Canary Islands, where it has an incidence of around 30-36 new cases per 100,000 children compared to other Spanish regions, where the average is 15-18 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Diabetes Type 1 is the most prevalent in childhood, accounting for 95% of cases and is due to the destruction of the cells that produce insulin. Type 2 is directly related to life habits, with being overweight and obesity in 85% of cases and which is preventable through regular physical exercise and a healthy diet. "While it is true that Type 2 diabetes has increased worldwide in adults, there is also an upward trend in childhood and adolescence in recent times in parallel with the increase in childhood obesity, where there is data on insulin resistance and glucose alterations", explains Dr. Maria Cabrera of Hospiten.
According to the specialist, "metabolic control in type 1 diabetes in the diabetic child is key to avoiding both acute (hyper and hypoglycemia) and long-term complications (renal, vascular, ophthalmological and neuro-pathological). In this sense, she recommends "following the three fundamental pillars: administration of insulin, diet and physical exercise, accompanied by adequate support through diabetes education".
In addition to treating childhood diabetes, Hospiten Roca's new service performs the diagnosis, treatment and supervision of hormonal disorders in children and adolescents, thus allowing the early detection of disease. The service will also treat growth problems such as short stature, precocious or delayed puberty, and disorders of the thyroid gland, among others, will also be treated.
Hospiten Group is an international healthcare network committed to providing service of the highest quality, with 50 years of experience, which has twenty private medical-hospital centers in Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Jamaica and Panama, and more than one hundred ambulatory health centers, under the Clinic Assist brand. The group is chaired by Dr. Pedro Luis Cobiella and attends more than 1,700,000 patients from around the world every year, and employs a staff of more than 5,000 people.