By James K. Robinson
A summary and some stunning statistics
I am a diabetic, a person who suffers from the disease called
diabetes, a disease that is growing at a fast rate in North America
where in the United States and Canada there are now more that 25 million
people diagnosed as being diabetic and where another 6 million are
estimated to have the disease and do not yet know it, probably because
they have not visited a doctor of late. And it gets worse, the forecast
by health authorities is that one in three children born from this
moment on will end up with diabetes. And a stunning number of 57 million
people have the condition called pre-diabetes, referred to in the text
below. And a major problem linked to diabetes is the similarly growing
incidence of obesity.
So what is diabetes?
There are three main types of diabetes and a few others less common.
There is also a condition referred to as pre-diabetes - and that is a
something to be watched for because, as its name suggests, it can lead
to the real thing, not a happy prospect for anyone.
No cure
It is generally accepted by the medical profession that there is no
cure for diabetes and the condition must be contained and controlled
within a specific tolerable range by the adoption of appropriate
lifestyle changes. Those include more healthy dietary approaches that
are even better if accompanied by exercise and perhaps weight loss and
possibly medication to assist in controlling the levels of glucose that
enter the bloodstream after eating.
But some say it IS curable
However, having said that there is no cure, I must add that there
are a number of quite renowned and successful medical practitioners who
insist that by adopting certain dietary approaches the disease can be
brought under control until it does not manifest itself and the diabetes
will, in effect, not exist for the individual who follows and adheres
to that approach. The gestational form of diabetes, mentioned below and
not very common, is a temporary diabetic condition suffered by a small
percentage of pregnant women.
The three main types of diabetes are
known as type-1 diabetes, type-2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes, of
which type-2 is by far the most common, making up about 90 to 95
percent of all cases.
In the past, but less so nowadays, type-1
and type-2 were referred to respectively by the more descriptive names
of juvenile diabetes and adult-onset diabetes.
Type-1 Diabetes
Sadly, type-1 diabetes is most often a disease that develops in
childhood or in young adults, although it sometimes strikes adults. It
is called an autoimmune disease that occurs when the individual's immune
system fails to function properly. The immune system is the collection
of biological processes in the human body that normally protects us all
against disease. But instead, in the case of type-1 diabetes, the immune
system actually destroys cells in an organ of the body, called the
pancreas, which make insulin. The result is that from that time on, the
type-1 person must take insulin each day to stay alive.
Insulin and glucose
Without insulin, the glucose produced from the food we eat and that
is needed to provide energy for all the body's cells cannot be delivered
into those cells and when that happens, life cannot survive for long.
Without a source of insulin, a type-1 diabetic can fall into a
life-threatening coma. A parent of a diabetic child lives with that
constant fear and concern that such an event might occur.
Type-2 diabetes
The most common form of diabetes, is a condition in which an above
normal level of glucose exists in the blood. That can occur for more
than just one reason but most likely due either to insufficient insulin
being produced by the body or resistance by the cells of the body to the
insulin that is being produced. And it may be a combination of both of
those factors.
The role of insulin
Insulin is needed to join with the glucose in the bloodstream and
aid in the delivery of the glucose to the trillions of cells in the body
where it is needed. It is the insulin's ability to interact with the
receptors that exist on the outer membrane of the cells, in a way acting
like a mediator, that enable the process to take place to completion.
To
illustrate, in the process, the insulin acts like a key that opens a
door to a cell allowing the glucose to enter into the cell. Without that
key, without insulin, the glucose cannot be absorbed. And that would
lead to a dangerous life threatening situation if not remedied promptly.
Gestational diabetes
Is a usually temporary form of the disease developed by some women,
usually late in their pregnancy, who may not even be aware of it because
no symptoms are exhibited. It is not common, occurring in perhaps about
5 percent or more of pregnancies but one unfavorable outlook for the
mother is that there is a 40 to 60 percent chance of them later becoming
full type-2 diabetics by about 5 to 10 years later.
What is pre-diabetes?
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), there are 57
million people in the United States who have pre-diabetes. People with
pre-diabetes have higher than normal blood glucose levels but levels not
high enough for a confirmed diagnosis of diabetes. In pre-diabetes
there is an increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes, and research
indicates that damage to the body does occur especially in the
cardiovascular system, meaning both the heart and the circulatory
system, and that can lead to heart disease and stroke.
Important research relating to pre-diabetes
An important clinical research study called the Diabetes Prevention
Program (DPP) showed that type-2 diabetes is preventable by adopting
lifestyle changes that includes improved eating habits, adding or
increasing physically active, and weight management. The weight target
is to get down to a body mass index of 25 or less and to exercise for at
least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a
chart of human body weights related to height and is used by doctors to
aid in determining the degree of variance, if any, of a patient's
particular readings with known acceptable index values.
Diabetes
is not contagious, it is not a disease that others can catch but in some
cases it may have a heredity genetic component so that more than one
member of the family may develop the disease. But the cause is really
unknown although certain factors are known to increase the possibility
of developing diabetes.
Type-2 diabetes is especially associated
with obesity and is considered to be a lifestyle disease of the
developed western world associated with our generally more sedentary
life. The incidence of diabetes is increasing as we, as a population,
consume more readily available foods that are rich in fats and contain
more calories than we need to sustain our levels of energy output.
Incidence of diabetes
According to data from the Multinational Project for Childhood
Diabetes by the World Health Organization, type 1 diabetes occurs
equally among males and females but is more common in whites than in
non-whites
Type-1 diabetes is uncommon in most African, American
Indian, and Asian populations while some countries of northern Europe,
including Finland and Sweden, have high rates of type 1 diabetes. The
reasons for these differences are unknown. As mentioned above, type-1
diabetes develops most often in children but can occur at any age.
Type-2
diabetes is more common in older people, and overweight people and
occurs more frequently in African Americans, indigenous native
Americans, and some Americans of Asian origin, Hawaiians and other
Americans of the Pacific Islands. Also it is more common among Latin
Americans, a segment of the population that is growing faster than the
rest.
Author's Comment:
This article is one of a series dealing with diabetes and its impact on personal health and the cost to public health-care.
I am a diabetic, writing from the perspective of a patient for my fellow diabetics and others.
Article Source:
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