Diabetes and Obesity

Type 2 diabetes (characterised by being resistant to the effects of insulin or not making enough insulin) affects about 90 percent of the people that are diagonsed with diabetes.

Researchers at the University of Chicago state the following in a November 2009 report:

Much of these costs are associated with the aging baby boomer population (those 77 million Americans born between 1946 and 1957). According to Dr. Elbert Huang, professor of medicine at the U of C and study co-author says “It’s a combination of increasing numbers and cost that drive these frightening numbers.”

This reinforces the need to prevent diabetes through public and private health efforts. Prevention of diabetes (type 2 for most people) requires transformation of the way we eat, increasing the amount of exercise performed, and points out the importance of finding new ways of treating diabetes efficiently. For people that contract diabetes through this route, this means finding a way to reduce insulin resistance.

Dr. David Kendall, American Diabetes Association chief scientific and medical officer, noted the following after reviewing these findings “The study was entirely consistant.. with previous reports that the growth in diabetes is substantial and ever-increasing, and the costs of diabetes also are substantial and ever-increasing.”

A separate report, also issued in the fall of 2009 from Loyola University Health System, noted that more diabetics are becoming morbidly obese. It stated that 1 in 5 people with Type 2 diabetes are over 100 pounds overweight. The medical definition of this condtion is morbidly obese. Further detail in the report noted that 62 percent of Type 2 adults in the US are obese and 21 percent are morbidly obese. In the African-American population with diabetes, one third are morbidly obese. These numbers are based on the body mass index, a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

People that are morbidly obese have a series of issues beyond diabetes (or in addition to diabetes) which can include:

I bring these facts up to illustrate the growing problem of diabetes and the cause of diabetes for most people.

It follows that an obvious solution to the issue, on an individual basis, would be to control your weight. This is proven to be possible through a combination of diet modification and exercise. Both of these ideas are influenced by popular culture and individual choice. Help and support in making these choices is available through many avenues. The most effective way is by education and action fueled by motivation.