National Health Crisis – What is Diabetes?

This post is from supplementalscience.com

For today’s post we would like to focus on a looming health crisis in America (and much of the world). While this particular condition is intertwined with the challenges of managing obesity, the condition at hand is diabetes.

Over the past half century,there has been a four- to eight-fold increase in the prevalence of diagnosed cases of diabetes in the U.S. In 2002, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among people aged 20 years or older was 8.7 percent and among 60 years or older was 18.3 percent. From 1997 through 2002, the number of new cases of diagnosed diabetes per year increased from 878,000 to 1,291,000 (a 47% increase). Projections of diabetes for future years are not encouraging.

A 165% increase in the number of persons with diabetes in the U.S. is projected through 2050, with a rise from 11 million to 29 million diagnosed persons of all ages. Without preventive action, one in every three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.

In order to determine whether or not a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).

Either test can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform.

With the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes.

In the OGTT test, a person’s blood glucose level is measured after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes.

While Type 2 Diabetes is most common form, there are actually several different types of diabetes.

Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women – about 135,000 cases in the U.S. each year. Gestational diabetes starts when a women’s body is not able to make and use all the insulin it needs for pregnancy. Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to energy. Glucose builds up in the blood to high levels. This is called hyperglycemia and the condition can adversely affect the health of the baby.

Pre-diabetes
Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when a person’s blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. There are 54 million Americans who have pre-diabetes, in addition to the 20.8 million with diabetes. Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have “pre-diabetes” — blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Recent research has shown that some long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, may already be occurring during pre-diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes
Results from the body’s failure to produce insulin, the hormone that “unlocks” the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children
and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes
Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar. Sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells.

Adapted from the National Diabetes Education Program, a joint program of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
For more information, contact the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) at 1-800-438-5383 or visit www.ndep.nih.gov