Diabetes In U.S. Adults Continues
To Rise
Obesity Is Driving
Much Of The Increase
One in seven US
adults, or 29 million people, have diabetes or are well on their
way toward the blood sugar disease, a new survey has found.
A recent survey, reported
in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
found that nearly 12 million adults have been diagnosed with
diabetes, while almost 5 million more have the condition but
have not yet been diagnosed.
Another 12 million
adults have mild difficulty processing blood sugar, called "pre-diabetes."
People with pre-diabetes are at significantly increased risk
of developing full-blown diabetes.
Experts believe roughly
half of people with pre-diabetes will progress to true diabetes
over a 10-year period, says Matt Petersen, director of scientific
and medical information for the American Diabetes Association.
Diabetes
Linked to Added Medical Woes
Diabetes involves
problems with insulin, a hormone that helps cells convert blood
sugar, or glucose, into energy. Two forms of diabetes are called
type 1 and type 2. In type 1 diabetes, which typically occurs
early in life, insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas die off,
starving the body of the hormone. In the second form of the
condition, cells gradually become resistant to insulin.
Both forms, if untreated,
can lead to serious complications such as nerve damage, blindness,
heart disease, and stroke.
Type 2 diabetes is
10 times more common than type 1 diabetes, partly because of
its link with obesity. Public health officials worldwide have
sounded alarms about the surge in overweight and obesity in
industrialized countries that has led to a global epidemic of
diabetes.
Even if US adults
were to reverse course and start losing weight and exercising
more, Mr. Petersen says, the effects on the nation's diabetes
rates probably would not appear for a decade or so.
The latest figures
come from a 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition
Examination (NHANES) surveys, and included almost 4,900
people age 20 and older. Researchers performed blood sugar tests
on 1,996 of those who had not been diagnosed with diabetes to
determine how many had undetected diabetes.
Obesity
a Major Risk Factor
Diabetes was more
common among African Americans and Hispanics than Caucasians,
and occurred more in older people than in younger individuals,
the researchers found. Still, previous reports have shown obesity-related
diabetes is becoming a significant concern among teens and even
younger children in the US.
The percentage of
people with confirmed diabetes appears to have jumped somewhat
since the mid-1990s, says Dr. Catherine Cowie, lead researcher
for the study and director of diabetes epidemiology at the National
Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
"I don't think we've
seen a plateau because obesity levels are increasing," Dr. Cowie
says. Her group is now working to refine their results.
Always consult your
physician for more information.
Online Resources
(Our Organization
is not responsible for the content of Internet sites.)
American
Diabetes Association
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Diabetes
Care
National
Diabetes Education Program
National
Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases
(NIDDKD)
National
Insitutes of Health (NIH)
National
Library of Medicine, at NIH
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October 2003
Diabetes
Linked to Added Medical Woes
Obesity
a Major Risk Factor
Online
Resources
Diagnosis
Protocol for Diabetes
According to the National
Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK):
People over age 45
should be tested for diabetes. If the first blood glucose test
is normal, they should be re-tested every three years.
People under age 45
should be tested for diabetes if they are at high risk for diabetes
based on these factors:
-
having a first-degree relative with
diabetes (mother, father, or sibling)
-
being a member of a high-risk ethnic
group (African-American, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American)
-
delivering a baby weighing more than
9 pounds, or having diabetes during pregnancy
-
having blood pressure at or above 140/90
mm/Hg
-
having abnormal blood fat levels, such
as high-density lipoproteins (HDL) less than or equal to 35 mg/dL,
or triglycerides greater than or equal to 250 mg/dL (mg/dL = milligrams
of glucose per deciliter of blood)
-
having impaired glucose tolerance when
previously tested for diabetes
A diagnosis of diabetes is made when any
three of these tests is positive, followed by a second positive test
on a different day
-
fasting plasma glucose of greater than
or equal to 126 mg/dL with symptoms of diabetes
-
casual plasma glucose (taken at any
time of the day) of greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL with the
symptoms of diabetes
-
oral glucose tolerance test
(OGTT) value of greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL measured
at a two-hour interval. The OGTT is given over a three-hour
time span.
Always consult your
physician for more information.
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