Diabetes Prevention

As I promised earlier this month, a few tips on diabetes prevention.  There is such a wealth of good information on the web on this topic that I will only hit the highlights.  There are plenty of links to reputable sites for you to follow to get more in-depth information.

For Type One Diabetes, which affects about 5%-10% of people with diabetes, there is no prevention at this time.  Because it is usually diagnosed early in life, it used to be called Juvenile Diabetes.  With Type One Diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin to process glucose into energy.  Treatment typically involves some type of insulin therapy and other treatments to replace the missing insulin and help convert glucose into energy.

Type Two Diabetes is most common, affecting  more than 23.6 million Americans. Some estimate that 57million Americans have diabetes, many not yet knowing it.  In Type Two Diabetes, the body may not produce enough insulin or it may ignore the insulin that's there-- the insulin doesn't do its job, so to speak. While in my youth I often heard this referred to as adult onset diabetes, I no longer hear that phrase.  This is because Type Two Diabetes is affecting children and young adults in far greater numbers than ever before.

Risk Factors for Diabetes
The American Diabetes Foundation (ADA) states that both forms of diabetes have two factors:

• a genetic predisposition to diabetes; someone in your immediate or close family has/had diabetes;
• a triggering environmental incident or situation; lifestyle--food choices, activity/exercise level, what part of world you live in, etc.

Type Two Diabetes has the higher correlation to environmental factors and lifestyle.  What the ADA finds interesting is that, while lifestyle--high fat, too little carbohydrate and fiber, and lack of exercise--are strong risk factors, these play out for those living a Western lifestyle (European and American).  The same factors do not correlate to getting the disease for people living in other parts of the world.

Some racial and ethnic groups and the elderly have a higher incidence of Type Two Diabetes.  If you are African-American,  Latino/Latina, Native American, Asian American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or you are elderly, your risk is higher. 

Diabetes Prevention 
The result of either type of diabetes is too much blood glucose in the body, which the body cannot process into energy.  The cells are starving while their "food" is all around them.

A Simple Demonstration
Earlier this month, our Hunger Network had a brief presentation where the presenter pulled a clear, plastic canister out of a bag.  In it were a group of white ping pong balls, representing cells in the body.  They were partly surrounded by a red liquid representing blood in the body. 

• Liquid in the first canister rolled smoothly around the balls when she rotated it; this represented a body with normal glucose levels; the "cells" had no difficulty  moving.  
• She pulled out a second canister; the liquid was a bit thicker and didn't roll quite as quickly around the cells.  This represented an elevated blood glucose level.  It was more difficult for the cells to move.
• She pulled out a third canister; the liquid was quite thick and the cells barely moved.  This represented a high glucose level that could be found in someone with diabetes, even if undiagnosed! 

The Mayo Clinic has this article on tips to prevent Type Two Diabetes.  As with all programs for diabetes prevention and control, it recommends

• physical activity, 
• more fiber, 
• whole grains, 
• losing weight, and 
• making healthier food choices rather than going on fad diets.

WebMD provides similar advice, and adds that you should stop smoking.  This is recommend to mitigate the effects of diabetes on the body.  Diabetes often leads to heart disease as does smoking; the combination is, quite literally, a killer.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) points to a study on diabetes prevention (see next paragraph) which demonstrated that "people can delay and possibly prevent the disease by losing a small amount of weight (5 to 7 percent of total body weight) through 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week and healthier eating."

For readers who want a more clinical resource, The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse has a Diabetes Prevention section you may want to read.  Their study is mentioned in the previous paragraph. 

The UC Berkeley (University of California at Berkeley) newsletter issue on diabetes prevention, Wellness Letter, has a good one-page summary that may prove helpful.  You can subscribe to their newsletter which informs you on a variety of wellness topics. 

Speaking Personally
On a personal note, my brother lived all over the world over 35+ years.  He was often assigned to "lesser developed" nations.  He would always drop weight after living for a time in one of these countries and he swears that it's because they don't over-process their grains and other foods.  And when he'd return to the US for a time, the weight would come right back.  I think he's onto something and I'm now buying items such as stone ground corn meal when I can find them.

World Diabetes Day & the Big Blue Test - View Video by Nov 14, 2010

Act quickly - November 14 is this Sunday! 
Here's the scoop.

World Diabetes Day  -- Sunday, November 14, 2010 -- is also a deadline for viewing a video linked to a unique opportunity to help a child with diabetes get insulin.

1. Check out the websites linked in this post for additional information.
2. View this short (less than 2 minutes) video from Diabetes Hands Foundation, Diabetes Daily, and Diabetes Stories.  View the video by Sunday, November 14, 2010 and Roche Diabetes Care, makers of ACCU-Check(c) diabetes products and services, will make a donation to support Life for a Child and Insulin for Life. 
3. Take part in the Big Blue Test on Sunday, November 14, 2010.  (Don't worry; it won't take long.)
4. Share your experience!

The Big Blue Test is an eye-opener for many people.  I won't spoil it for you.  Check out the link for the test and just do it; it doesn't take long and it is something you can share to help inform others.  While it is designed for people with diabetes, if you don't have diabetes - or don't know that you have diabetes - you can do the 2nd part and make your body feel better! 

I'll follow up on Jeff Hansell's request to post some diabetes prevention care in another post.  The deadline of this Sunday to have a donation made based on just viewing a video pushed that other topic back a bit.

Until next post...

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month

Diabetes: Could You Have It But Not Know It?

• Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes and know it.   
• Millions more have diabetes and don't know it - they have no symptoms and have never been tested.  Estimates put this number at 57 Million Americans at risk! 

Diabetes can be a silent killer.  It's scary. 

Two Types of Diabetes 

Type One Diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce sufficient insulin to convert starches and sugar into energy for the body to use.  This typically gets diagnosed in childhood/youth and is not preventable - you often hear it referred to as Juvenile Diabetes, but that's because it gets diagnosed early; it continues to affect you throughout life.  The body just cannot produce enough insulin.  Type One Diabetes is treated through insulin therapy and other strategies.  It can be a fatal disease, but is usually manageable with proper treatment. 

Type Two Diabetes can be caused by the body not producing enough insulin, or by the cells ignoring the insulin the body produces.  Type Two Diabetes affects the majority of people with diabetes and is both preventable and manageable.  Exercise and diet are the major factors in preventing Type Two Diabetes.  Type Two Diabetes was typically seen in adults. Unfortunately, today we see more and more children diagnosed with it.  That is part of the reason behind the current effort to reduce sugary products in schools. 

Because diabetes is such a big risk to our health, I've decided to join the campaign to blog regularly thoughout November on this topic.  I'll add more content every few days (I will try for every day) and add links to help you learn more about this health problem.

Why Do I Care?

Diabetes is part of my family.  My grandfather had Type Two Diabetes and lived to the ripe age of 96.  He walked every day, outlived most of his doctors, and lived by the "apple a day" prescription common to his generation.  He was insulin-dependent (depended on insulin shots to help regulate the amount of insulin in his body so it could process sugars properly) but had few complications.  He was lucky. 

My cousin had Type One Diabetes and died from complications in her early 30s.  It was a shock to us.  This was nearly 30 years ago and we know that treatments today have improved.  But it's still a serious disease that requires careful treatment.  Her body had great difficulty processing insulin and even with proper management, she had a great many complications.  I remember my mother cooking dinners for her and bringing them to her in the Joslin Clinic, right down to china plates and a small vase with a rose, so she could feel somewhat at home even in the hospital.  She was there for amputation of one of her toes.  You see, poor circulation is one of common complications of diabetes.  Poor circulation and neuropathy - nerve damage with resulting loss of sensation - means that even a small cut in the foot can lead to serious infections.

One uncle died from complication from Type Two Diabetes.  Although he was in his later 70s and we had the benefit of having him around for many years, tell that to his wife and children who miss him.  Another uncle was diagnosed just a few years ago.  In his 80s, he is managing it.

It just seems as if it runs in our family.  So it is important to me and to everyone else in my family.   One of my four brothers has hypoglycemia - which is caused when the body uses up glucose (sugar) too quickly, glucose is released by the body too slowly, or the body produces too much insulin for the body to process properly.  Hypoglycemia can occur in people with diabetes, but there is condition called Idopathic Hypoglycemia where the cause of this imbalance is unknown and the person does not have diabetes. 

Growing up with this so much a part of my family, especially my grandfather and cousin, I learned from my mother to cook with about half the sugar called for in any recipe and always use less salt than stated.  I don't even add salt after cooking.  I watch in wonder as I see people in restaurants pick up the salt and pour it on food they haven't even tasted yet!  People often don't seem to know how to appreciate the taste of the actual food they're eating.  Salt can flavor food, but it also helps regulate fluids in the body.  Too much salt, however, can cause health complications such as high blood pressure (hypertension). 

Consider this: every french fry from that fast food place is loaded with salt!  Some places actually add sugar to the cooking oil.  Would you sit down and pour sugar on your french fries?  If we start considering how much sugar and salt are in the preprocessed or precooked foods we eat, we might find that we are killing ourselves through ignorance.  If we can cook more at home and bring that home cooking to work for lunch, we can cut a huge chunk out of our poor food choices. 

Speaking of work - I've got to go!  See you in a day or two with another post on Diabetes -- or whatever else is On My Mind.