Diabetes
In US 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
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
In This
Issue:
Diabetes
In US Adults Continues To Rise
Diabetes
Linked to Added Medical Woes
Obesity
a Major Risk Factor
Diagnosis
Protocol for Diabetes
Online
Resources
Other
Resources:
Find
a St. John's Mercy Physician
Diabetes
Services at St. John's Mercy
Diabetes
Health Information
St.
John's Mercy Classes and Programs
In
Other Diabetes Health News:
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:
- being
more than 20 percent over ideal body weight, or having a body mass index
(BMI) of greater than or equal to 27 kgm/m2
- 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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