Diabetes has reached epidemic levels in recent years. Diabetes and heart attacks are two of the biggest health problems Americans face. Poor diet and other lifestyle choices are important factors in determining a person's risk for contracting diabetes, which affects every economic bracket, race, gender and age. Some people are more at risk than others, but no one is completely immune.
Definition
Diabetes affects the way the body utilizes blood sugar (glucose) and strikes in several forms.
Type 1 diabetes is considered an auto-immune disease because the body's immune system attacks and kills its own insulin-producing cells.
With type 2 diabetes, the body doesn't produce enough insulin to meet the body's needs, or the body becomes insulin resistant, meaning the body rejects what insulin it does produce. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes, affecting up to 95 percent of diabetics.
Gestational diabetes occurs in pregnant women, but usually corrects itself after the woman has given birth.
American Menace
According to the Mayo Clinic, some cases of diabetes may be inherited. Other risk factors involve lifestyle, diet and a person's individual makeup. It is estimated that more than 60 percent of American adults are overweight or obese, conditions that tend to make the body more resistant to insulin.
Americans' daily lives often are not conducive to physical activity. Many American jobs require sitting at a desk in front of a computer. Americans also spend a great deal of time in vehicles commuting to and from work and recreational activities.
The American diet is also a factor when considering who is at risk for diabetes. Fast food, take-out meals and highly processed foods that line the shelves of supermarkets contribute to the poor nutrition of many Americans, who are also bombarded with a constant array of ads for sugar-laden foods and beverages.
Race
One group of Americans in particular is at high risk for contracting diabetes. Native American and Alaska Native adults are almost three times more likely than white adults to receive a diabetes diagnosis. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that a little over 17 percent of Native Americans age 18 and older have diabetes, compared with 6.5 percent of non-Hispanic white adults.
Native Americans are not the only race at high risk. Asian-Americans, African-Americans and Hispanics are also considered to be at high risk.
Bad Behavior
Americans tend to indulge in many activities that undermine general health on an individual and group level. Smoking, alcohol consumption, over-eating and lack of exercise are detrimental on their own, but when combined can have disastrous consequences. Americans who are predisposed to heart conditions, stroke and diabetes are at a particular disadvantage. When a person has a heart condition and continues to overeat, he creates a cycle that opens the door for diabetes.
Prevention
Americans can change their lifestyle and diet patterns and prevent, or at least put off, the onset of diabetes. The American Diabetes Association offers many helpful ideas on how to prevent diabetes in America. Those who are genetically predisposed to diabetes can find helpful information online concerning diet and proper nutrition. Diabetes can be reversed in some cases, and slowed down or stopped in others.
References
- American Diabetes Association
- Mayo Clinic: Diabetes
- "Prescription for Nutritional Healing"; Phyllis Balch; 2006
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Native Americans and Diabetes
