November is dedicated to raising awareness about diabetes and how it impacts millions of Americans. The disease is expected to nearly triple from 22.3 million adults (9.1% of the population) in 2014, to 39.7 million (13.9% of the population) in 2030. By 2060, 60.6 million people (17.9% of the population) will be diagnosed with diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. The pancreas is the organ responsible for producing the hormone insulin, which lowers blood sugar (glucose) after we eat. Initially, the body is considered insulin resistant, meaning the body isn’t using insulin properly to lower blood glucose. The pancreas will increase production of insulin to make up for this. As this process carries out, the pancreas can’t keep up with the high demand for insulin. If this occurs without being corrected over a period of time, the high amount of glucose in the blood can affect your eyes, kidneys, nerves, and heart.
Are you at risk?
It is beneficial to know if you are at risk for prediabetes or diabetes. If caught early, there are preventative steps that can be taken to control or reverse these health conditions. Some risk factors that increase your risk for developing prediabetes and diabetes are:
- Being overweight
- Being 45 or older
- Having a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes
- Being physically active less than 3 times per week
- Having gestational diabetes while pregnant or giving birth to a baby who weighs more than 9 pounds
Fortunately, by making gradual lifestyle changes, it is possible to reduce the chance of developing prediabetes and diabetes or start to reverse the diagnosis. Some things to think about:
- Lose weight by eating healthy and being physically active. Weight and physical activity have a great affect on how the body responds to insulin. By losing weight and being physically active, the chance of developing prediabetes/diabetes diminishes greatly.
- Learn to deal with stress. Are you the type of person to eat when you are stressed? Try to find a different way of coping with stress that doesn’t involve food.
- Choose healthy foods when eating out. Americans are eating out more than ever which is leading to larger portions and weight gain. Try to limit eating out to no more than one time per week. In addition, try to choose healthy foods and be conscious of portion sizes.
- Maintain changes over time. Short-term dieting and losing weight quickly isn’t going to prevent prediabetes or diabetes in the long run. It is best to make small changes to diet and activity that you can stick to and see yourself doing for years to come. This is shown to have the best outcome to preventing this disease.
If you have concerns or want to know more about prediabetes or diabetes, make an appointment with your primary care physician.
Sources: Diabetes.org, CDC.gov, todaysgeriatricmedicine.com
