ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — There are about 425 million people around the world living with diabetes. That number is expected to grow to 629 million by the year 2045. Here are some tips to help lower your risk of developing diabetes.
Did you know that if you are overweight, you are seven times more likely to develop diabetes? But, according to a Harvard study, if you lose seven to ten percent of your body weight that cuts your risk in half. To shed those excess pounds, choose healthier options. One study found eating an extra two servings of whole grains a day decreased the risk of type-two diabetes by 21 percent. Also, eat fewer servings of processed meats. Just two slices of bacon or one hot dog increased diabetes risk by 51 percent.
“The other tremendous thing that needs to be evaluated with one is how active we are,” said Ryan Sanders, RDN, CDE at UF Health Shands Hospital.
Inactivity is linked to type-two diabetes. Every two hours you spend in front of the TV increases your chances of diabetes by 20 percent. But a brisk walk for 30 minutes, five days a week can cut your risk by 30 percent.
“There are strategies to help prevent the onset of type-two from pre-diabetes,” Sanders continued.
Bottom line: stay lean and active to stay healthy and keep diabetes at bay.
The CDC has a one-minute test that you can take to check your risk for developing diabetes. To take the test, go to www.cdc.gov/prediabetes/takethetest.
Contributors to this news report include: Milvionne Chery, Field Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.
Free weekly e-mail on Medical Breakthroughs from Ivanhoe. To sign up: http://www.ivanhoe.com/ftk
SIMPLE STEPS TO STOP DIABETES
REPORT #2594
BACKGROUND: Diabetes is the condition in which the body does not properly process food for use as energy. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. Diabetes can cause serious health complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Approximately 30 million of the U.S. population has diabetes. Of that, about 23 million people have been diagnosed and 7 million adults, ages 18 years or older are undiagnosed. Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose, or A1C levels, which reflect average blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. People with prediabetes are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which can lead to heart attack or stroke. It is estimated that 84 million adults ages 18 years or older have prediabetes and of that 23 million adults ages 65 or older have prediabetes.
(Source: https://www.cdc.gov/media/presskits/aahd/diabetes.pdf and https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/diabetes-statistics)
STAYING AHEAD: Diabetes prevention is as basic as eating healthier, becoming more physically active and losing a few extra pounds. Making a few simple changes in your lifestyle can help you avoid the serious health complications of diabetes down the road, such as nerve, kidney and heart damage. The American Diabetes Association shares prevention tips such as aerobic exercise and resistance training that help to control diabetes. Another tip is eating foods high in fiber including fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains and nuts. Another tip is every pound you lose can improve your health, and you may be surprised by how much. Participants in one large study who lost a modest amount of weight, around 7 percent of initial body weight, and exercised regularly reduced the risk of developing diabetes by almost 60 percent. Finally, low-carb diets, the glycemic index diet or other fad diets may help you lose weight at first, but their effectiveness at preventing diabetes isn’t known, nor are their long-term effects.
PREVENTION BREAKTHROUGH: Experts from the University of Stirling in Scotland have made a breakthrough in understanding how people respond to lifestyle treatment for preventing Type 2 diabetes. The team, including academics from the Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, discovered a new genomic signature in people whose Type 2 diabetes status improves following a treatment intervention. Significantly, it is the first reliable signature for insulin sensitivity in human muscle. Scientists believe that the findings will inform future research by helping understand why not all people are able to eliminate the risk of the condition by changing their lifestyle. Dr. Iain J. Gallagher, of the research team, said, “Our hypothesis was that with sufficient numbers of well characterized subjects and our new analysis methods, we could reveal a robust signature for what is known as ‘insulin resistance’ an important precursor for developing Type 2 diabetes. Importantly, because we could also examine how the activation status of each ‘insulin resistance’ gene responded to treatment, we have also discovered a potential explanation for why not all people eliminate their Type 2 diabetes risk by following a lifestyle and exercise training program.”
(Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-07-breakthrough-diabetes.html)
* For More Information, Contact:
Rossana Passaniti – Media Relations, UF Health
(352) 273-8569
