Diabetes Numbers Increase

GUEST POST: KATHLEEN BARNES – Kathleen is the author and editor of 13 books on topics ranging from business and personal finance to natural health, sustainable living, advertising and international marketing. Her latest book, The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You covers the many problems that calcium creates.

Startling new statistics on diabetes released by the National Institutes of Health this week show that the rates of diabetes and impaired blood sugar in American are increasing at alarming levels.

Nearly 13% of American aged 20 and over have diabetes, but 40% of them don’t know it. This puts them at high risk for the tragic side effects of diabetes, including heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, impaired circulation that can lead to amputations and more.

If that’s not gloomy enough for you, consider this: From 1995 to 1997, there were 4.8 new cases of Type 2 diabetes per 1,000 Americans. Ten years later, that rate had increased by 89% to 9.1 new cases per 1,000 Americans.

Worse yet, 36% of men and 23% of women and 16% of teenagers have “pre-diabetes,” says the NIH.

The term “pre-diabetes” is a con. It means that you have impaired blood glucose function and without drastic measures, you will soon have diabetes and all of its ugly companion diseases. It lulls too many patients into complacency.

It’s even more frightening when you consider the number of teenagers who are being diagnosed with diabetes or more benign-sounding “pre-diabetes.” The disease now known as Type 2 diabetes was once known as adult onset diabetes.

Diabetes was once the province of senior citizens. The dread companion diseases are more-or less accepted turf there. But there is something inherently wrong when we think of obese teenagers with arterial blockages, having heart attacks at 30 and bypasses at 35, if they survive that long. Just think about where these poor kids will be when they’re 40.

These statistics aren’t just numbers, folks. They are our mothers, father, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives and, sadly, our children. They are real people and this illness takes a toll on everyone around someone with diabetes.

This a tragedy of national proportions. Diabetes is a terrible disease. There are no two ways about it. Once you’re diagnosed, the changes of reversing diabetes are diminished. The chances of controlling it are better. But the best bet is prevention.

How can you prevent diabetes?

1. Stay away from sugar and foods with hidden sugar: This is a good start, but it’s not the entire answer.
2. Control your weight: Most of us know that obesity is a factor in almost all cases of Type 2 diabetes. Studies also show that just losing 10% of your body weight can dramatically lower blood sugars.
3. Exercise is another key factor in diabetes management and prevention., not only for the obvious reasons. Muscle activity actually helps your body to better use the insulin that your pancreas is producing.
4. Know your mineral status and correct mineral imbalances to help prevent a downward spiral of metabolic problems that lead to diabetes and a host of other health problems, according to Robert Thompson, M.D., with whom I wrote The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You (InTruth Press, 2008). Learn your mineral status by getting a hair tissue mineral analysis and following the recommendations tailored to your specific needs.

Finally, do what ever it takes to fend off the diabetes monster. It is one of the most terrible diseases we face and one of the most preventable. It’s up to you.

–Kathleen Barnes

http://www.kathleenbarnes.com

Twitter: @KathleenSBarnes

Tags: death, Diabetes