According to data from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one out of three
Americans aged 20 and older has prediabetes, a condition in which your glucose,
or blood sugar, levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be
diagnosed as full-blown diabetes.
For those with prediabetes (86
million Americans in all), 15 percent to 30 percent will go on to develop type
2 diabetes within five years, if no lifestyle changes are made, again according
to CDC data.
These numbers are already dismal,
but new data from a large study out of The Netherlands predicts the problem is
only going to get worse.
Nearly Half of Adults May Develop
Prediabetes
After tracking and analyzing data
from about 10,000 adults for a period of 15 years, researchers found that
nearly half of 45-year-olds will develop prediabetes, also known as impaired
glucose metabolism, at some point during their lifetime.
Further, three-quarters of those
with elevated blood sugar levels at age 45 will go on to develop full-blown
diabetes, according to the study.
While previous studies have looked
into population risks of prediabetes, this study is among the first to
consider a person’s lifetime risk
of developing this condition – which is remarkably high. If you’re wondering
what blood sugar levels are considered healthy:
·
6 millimoles/per liter (108
milligrams per deciliter) or less are considered normal or healthy
·
6mmol/L and below 7mmol/L (108 to
128 mg/dl) are considered elevated or prediabetic
·
7mmol/L or greater are diagnosed as
diabetes
The silver lining to this finding is
that prediabetes can typically be cured by altering your lifestyle; a diagnosis
does not mean you’re destined to develop type 2
diabetes. So if you’ve been diagnosed with prediabetes, consider yourself
lucky.
You have received a warning that
many people don’t get (and instead progress straight to type 2 diabetes). Now
you can take steps to reverse the condition and reclaim your health. In an
accompanying editorial, researchers noted:
“The prevalence of type 2
diabetes is increasing worldwide, and the prevalence of the at-risk state for
the disease (often termed prediabetes) is even higher.
There is good evidence that
intensive lifestyle prevention programs can prevent or delay the onset of type
2 diabetes in those at high risk.”
Processed
Food, Sugar May Be Driving Prediabetes and Diabetes Rates Sky-High
Last year, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) showed that more than 29 million Americans were diagnosed with
type 2 diabetes, a statistic researchers predicted in 2001 wouldn’t be reached
until 2050.
Why are rates of type 2 diabetes skyrocketing? It’s largely
diet-related, and a meta-review published in Mayo
Clinic Proceedings confirmed
that calories from fructose (think high-fructose
corn syrup) and other added sugars are the primary drivers of prediabetes
and diabetes.
According to the researchers, the American Diabetes Association does
not recommend restricting fructose-containing added sugars to any specific
level, despite the fact that:
“Data from animal experiments and human
studies implicate added sugars (eg, sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup) in
the development of diabetes mellitus and related metabolic derangements that
raise cardiovascular (CV) risk.”
Prediabetes is one of the most common conditions we see
in our office, but also one of the easiest to correct and reverse with the
proper program. If you are in this early warning stage and want to avoid
becoming a full-blown diabetic, give our office a call!
In Health,
Dr. Brad Niewierowski
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