Stop Type 2 Diabetes Before It Starts

As if all this weren’t enough, there’s an alarming increase in new type 2 diabetes cases. Consider these facts to get a sense of the scope of the problem:
•    Diabetes affects more than 6.2 percent of the U.S. population, or 17 million people, but that figure is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s estimated that another six million have type 2 diabetes but don’t know it.
•    Nearly 20 percent of the population between the ages of 65 and 74 has diabetes, primarily of the type 2 variety. (Type 2 diabetes onset usually occurs after age 30, and its prevalence increases steadily with advancing age.)
•    Another 20–25 million Americans are thought to have insulin resistance, a state in which the body’s tissues are less sensitive to the action of insulin, the hormone that brings blood sugar (glucose) into those tissues to be used as a source of energy. To compensate, the pancreas pumps out more and more insulin, but eventually it can’t keep up, which leads to diabetes.
•    According to researchers directing the 16-year Nurses Health Study, being overweight is the single most important factor in the development of diabetes. I’m sure you’re aware of the steady rise in obesity in the U.S. and other Western countries, so all of these numbers are only going to increase.
•    The annual economic cost of diabetes in the U.S. is on the order of $100 billion.

These statistics should alarm you as much as they do me. Although we’re making numerous strides in preventing and treating heart disease, we have more people than ever diagnosed with diabetes, a disease that puts its sufferers at a stepped-up risk for heart disease.

Sadly, I’m fairly accustomed to seeing type 2 diabetes develop in my adult patients, often preceded by years of the insulin resistance. The effects can go undetected, quietly assaulting your body, damaging organs such as your heart, kidneys, brain, and eyes. By the time you have enough symptoms to alert a physician to track your blood sugar, much of the damage has been done.

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