Type-2 Diabetes Can Be Preventable

 

According to 2019 statistics, about 12% of Americans have diabetes. Less than 1% of them have Type-1 diabetes, where their body loses or never had the ability to produce insulin. The rest have developed Type-2 diabetes (no one is born with it), where their cells have become insulin resistant and cannot process it properly. But the CDC estimates that a staggering 38% of all US adults have pre-diabetes. That is, they are in the process of developing into Type-2 diabetics. That is about 96 million adults in a country with a total population of 331 million. One person in three.

Like heart disease and cancer, diabetes is a leading cause of death for Americans. And it is often the underlying reason for cardiovascular problems like heart disease and stroke. Sadly, Type-2 diabetes is largely a preventable disease and recent studies suggest that it can even be reversed with diet and lifestyle changes. For this reason it is often referred to as a "lifestyle disease". And yet it continues to afflict more and more of us.

Since more than 80% of pre-diabetics are unaware that they have the condition, your first step should be to have yourself tested for it at your next physical. Its likely that your doctor will measure your A1C as part of  your routine blood test. If your A1C level is 5.7% or less, congratulations. That is normal. Higher than that and you are already pre-diabetic. If it is above 6.5% then you are a Type-2 diabetic and need to address the situation with your doctor immediately.

If you are in the pre-diabetic range, you should undertake some serious diet and lifestyle changes to prevent things from getting worse. This would include dietary improvements, regular exercise, weight loss, effective stress management and perhaps strategic supplementation. There are hundreds of support groups online and they are most likely a better place for most people to begin than a Google search. Unfortunately, with so many people affected, diabetes "cures" and "treatments" are a rich opportunity for scams. Here is one good place to start but there are many others. As always, be very suspicious of anything claiming to be a simple way to resolve the problem.