Diabetes: The
Silent Killer Is It Stalking You?
By the end of this year, an additional 1
million Americans over the age of 20 will get some alarming news: diabetes,
the nation's fifth deadliest disease, has struck.
By the time these people are diagnosed, the
illness may have already begun silently creeping down its path of destruction.
Diabetes has a way of sneaking up upon people gradually, often with very few
outward symptoms-or sometimes none at all. But even in its early, undiagnosed
stages, it can cause serious harm: nerve damage, kidney and eye diseases, and
even heart disease may begin to develop unnoticed.
So gradual are these changes that nearly 6
million people living in the United States have no idea that they are among
the 17 million Americans believed to have diabetes. Every day, 2,700 more
people learn the news. There are at least 16 million more whose blood-glucose
levels have climbed above normal but have not yet reached a level high enough
for a diabetes diagnosis. These people have pre-diabetes, which will most
likely develop into diabetes within the next 10 years of their lives. It, too,
can cause serious harm to the body, long before a doctor detects it.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that has no cure,
but can be controlled. It contributes to the deaths of more than 200,000
Americans each year. It is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke, as
well as the leading cause of adult blindness, kidney failure and non-traumatic
amputations.
There are two major types of diabetes. Type 1,
which occurs most often in children and young adults, is an autoimmune disease
in which the body does not produce any insulin, a hormone needed to convert
food into the energy we need to live. Five to 10 percent of diabetes cases are
of this type.
Type 2 diabetes, a metabolic disorder resulting
from the body's inability to make enough or properly use insulin, accounts for
90 percent or more of all diabetes cases. It is most often associated with
obesity and was once referred to as adult-onset diabetes, since it frequently
strikes in adulthood.
However, the recent surge in childhood obesity
has brought with it a disturbing rise in type 2 diabetes among our nation's
youth. What makes this increase even more alarming is that children who
develop type 2 diabetes appear to develop serious complications much earlier
in their lives than people who are diagnosed as adults. A study presented at
the American Diabetes Association's 62d Annual Scientific Sessions in June
documented a disproportionate number of kidney failures, miscarriages and
diabetes-related deaths among one of the first generations of children with
type 2 to reach their 20s.
This news comes on the heels of predictions by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the prevalence of
type 2 diabetes will soar by 165 percent in the United States by the year
2050. The increase in obesity among children and adults, a growing number of
older Americans and a trend toward more sedentary lifestyles have already
combined to push type 2 diabetes to epidemic proportions.
But the CDC's predictions needn't come true.
Recent studies tell us that diabetes can be prevented if we are willing to
make and sustain moderate lifestyle changes, including maintaining a healthy
weight or losing a modest amount of weight, and being physically active for at
least 30 minutes each day. For those who already have diabetes, these changes
can help ward off the serious health complications associated with the
disease. They are changes worth making. They are changes that could save your
life.
Diabetes: The Silent Killer
Risk Factors for Diabetes
Researchers can't say for certain what causes diabetes, but they do know that
heredity and some environmental factors play a role. Here are some of the
major risk factors for diabetes:
* Being overweight or obese
* Family history of diabetes
* Belonging to a racial or ethnic group at high risk for diabetes, such as
Native Americans, African-Americans, Latinos, Asian- Americans and Pacific
Islanders
* Age (being older than 45)
* Lack of exercise/Sedentary lifestyle
* Giving birth to a baby that weighs more than nine pounds
* Having had gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy)
Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes
Of the 17 million Americans estimated to be living with diabetes, roughly one
third don't know they have it. That's because diabetes often develops
gradually, without any signs or symptoms at all. Sometimes the symptoms are
there, but go unnoticed. Here are some of the most common symptoms:
Type 1
* Frequent urination
* Unusual thirst
* Extreme hunger
* Unusual weight loss
* Extreme fatigue
* Irritability
Type 2
* Any of the symptoms for type 1 diabetes
* Frequent infections
* Blurred vision
* Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
* Tingling/numbness in the hands or feet
* Recurring skin, gum or bladder infections
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