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COLUMN BY SUSAN HILL |
PREVIOUS COLUMNSMake Vitamin D When the Sun Shines Vaccinate Our Daughters Against Cancer Artificial Sweeteners—Are They a Sweet Deal—or Not Extremes at Both Ends - Anorexia and Bulimia to Obesity Making sense of Cholesterol's ABCs |
DIABETES: It's more than just blood sugar
posted 11/16/2007 What's it all about; how can you be more aware of your risks; what can you do to decrease your risks of developing this disease? Diabetes is a disease of glucose utilization in the body. Glucose is the "gasoline" that our bodies use for fuel. Everything we eat is converted to glucose to feed each and every cell in our bodies. It is the stuff of our survival. The pancreas is an internal organ located in the left upper abdomen that produces insulin—the key that allows glucose floating in the blood stream to enter each body cell so it can be used for energy. Diabetes Type 1 typically develops in children and young adults and there is a fairly rapid loss of pancreas function with ultimately no insulin produced. The person must then administer insulin for life. It is thought that Type 1 diabetes is caused by an auto-immune process where the body destroys the pancreas, perhaps triggered by a viral infection. Type 2 diabetes tended historically to be associated with older age onset and the pancreas continues to have some function but becomes exhausted over time. However, more young people are developing Type 2 diabetes, sometimes as young as seven years of age. Type 2 diabetes can have a genetic predisposition to run in families. Diabetes rates have increased globally in the past 20 years, even in places like India and South Asia. As these countries have adopted western dietary and technological changes, rates of obesity and subsequent diabetes have also climbed. Those in the US most prone to diabetes are Hispanic, American Indian and African American. However, 1 in 4 people over age 65, regardless of ethnic origin, have diabetes By 2050, the current number of diabetics is expected to triple to 48 million people. This is thought to be a conservative estimate. A healthy diet and daily exercise are the key to preventing diabetes as well as controlling the disease. Recent analysis of the population of Cuba, during the economic crisis from 1989 to 2005, showed that people's caloric intake declined from almost 3000 cal/day to just under 200 0 cal/ day due to food shortages. Physical activity levels increased since walking and biking were primary transportation. The obesity rate dropped 50% and deaths from diabetes, heart disease and stroke plummeted. Much of the world is getting fatter though, and more sedentary. Currently, the World Health Organization estimates there are 400 million obese people worldwide; that figure is predicted to nearly double to 700 million within the next seven years. The US leads the pile with adult obesity at over 30%, Britain catching up with 23% (a three fold increase in the past 25 yrs.) By contrast, the Japanese adult obesity rate is 3% and the Canadian rate is 14%. "Junk" foods, super-size portions, snacks, fast foods, calorie-dense foods and corn syrup rich candies have become the norm in the American diet. Similarly, driving the car everywhere, TV, home movies, computer usage and screen-games have increased sedentary hours and squeezed out activity. Worldwide, the alarm bells are ringing. The economic cost of diabetes will be staggering. The CDC estimate of economic cost of diabetes in 2002 was $132 billion. Of this amount, $92 billion was due to direct medical costs and $40 billion due to indirect costs such as lost workdays, restricted activity, and disability due to diabetes. The average medical expenditure for a person with diabetes was $13,243, or 5.2 times greater than the cost for a person without diabetes. In addition, 11 percent of national health care expenditures went to diabetes care...and that was five years ago. Around the country, energy is being focused not just on drugs to treat the disease but on prevention measures that target dietary habits of youth and adults, education, activity levels and transportation options. Communities like ours have taken up the challenge to develop "safe routes to school" to encourage walking. Cities are banning trans fats to help reduce obesity, the precursor to diabetes. But we have a long way to swim upstream to combat the heavy promotion of food in our culture; food that is high in calories and low in nutrition. Our communities and culture are built around the automobile, and despite the high cost of gas, the car does not seem to be on the endangered list. Government, industry and private agencies are scrambling to develop strategies to slow the snowball roaring downhill. It will affect all of us, even those without the disease will be impacted by rising costs of healthcare, loss of domestic productivity, and family members afflicted. We all need to take initiative now to start incremental changes in our lives and with our families. Even small changes will make a difference. Susan C. Hill © 2007 To comment on the column, email susan@sanjuanislander.com |
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