Diet And Exercise May Help Stem

The Rapid Growth Of Diabetes Cases

By Jan Howard

Nearly six percent of the population of the United States, or 15.7 million Americans, have diabetes; 5.4 million of these people are unaware they have diabetes. There are 135 million people worldwide that have diabetes.

Each year 798,000 Americans develop diabetes, or 2,200 each day.

These statistics were among topics discussed during a program March 18 on diabetes by Dr Robert Ruxin, a diabetes specialist practicing in Ridgefield and Sandy Hook, and Diane T. Creed, area director for the American Diabetes Association. The program was sponsored by The Learning Center at Ashlar of Newtown as part of the “Brown Bag Learn and Munch” series held once a month at the Toddy Hill Road facility.

“It is a rapidly expanding disease,” Dr Ruxin said. Diabetes is not selective, he noted, and is increasing in every type of age and socioeconomic group.

Dr Ruxin said the above data are already old. He said the number of Americans with diabetes is now closer to 17 million, and is expected to rise to 30 million in the next decade.

He said new cases of diabetes total more than the total new cases of lung, breast, colon, and prostate cancer together. “There has been a 60 percent increase in the last decade,” he said.

As people age, diabetes becomes more prevalent, Dr Ruxin said, rising 20 percent over age 65 and 40 percent over age 75.

In Type II diabetes, major organ systems are not working well, he noted. There are major metabolic defects, such as insulin resistance in muscle and fat, decreased pancreatic insulin, and increased hepatic glucose output from the liver.

Diabetes can be prevented or controlled through diet, exercise, and medication, Dr Ruxin said. “The food we eat is converted into fuel. There are too many calories, and we’re not burning them off.”

There are different medications that work in different ways to lower blood sugar, he said, noting that some stimulate insulin release or help the body’s insulin work better.

Insulin resistance is the impaired response to physiological effects of insulin, including those on glucose metabolism.

The goal is to lower blood sugar. “As blood sugar is lowered, complications decrease,” Dr Ruxin said. “The lower you are, the better off you are.”

Type II diabetes is the end result of insulin resistance. “You lose control of blood sugar,” Dr Ruxin said.

If blood sugar level is 109 or less, it is considered to be normal; from 110 to 125, it is prediabetes; and at 126, diabetic.

The cause may be because of genetic background or lifestyle and diet.

Some conditions might lead to diabetes, such as high blood pressure and impaired glucose tolerance, among others.

Diabetes is a progressive disease, Dr Ruxin said, and occurs slowly. A person may be prediabetic for ten years before actual symptoms appear. But there are warning signs a doctor should look for, such as overweight (a 35-inch waist in women and 40-inch waist in men), high cholesterol and triglycerides, gout, and high blood pressure, among others. Dr Ruxin said if there are three or more of these, the person should be suspected of being insulin resistant.

There is currently an epidemic of Type II diabetes in teenagers, he said, believed to be because of no exercise and a high fat diet.

“Eating sugar doesn’t cause diabetes,” Dr Ruxin said. “The important thing is the total calories you eat.”

In regard to diabetes in children, Ms Creed said parents must control the food their children eat. There are 12 teaspoons of sugar in a can of soda; if super-sized, there are 24, she noted.

“Kids who don’t have a good foundation, what do they do with their kids someday?” she said.

 Ms Creed outlined statistics on amputations as a result of diabetes. “Sixty percent of limb amputations are due to diabetes.” Diabetics must check their feet morning and night, she added. Also, she said, 42 percent of new kidney disease is the result of diabetes.

“You can be in control of your existence through diet and exercise,” she said.

She recommended one-half hour of exercise daily or at least three times a week, such as walking or swimming. “You must be part of the solution,” she noted.