There are 23.6 million people in the United States, or 8% of the population, who have diabetes.
The total prevalence of diabetes increased 13.5% from 2005-2007.
Only 24% of diabetes is undiagnosed, down from 30% in 2005 and from 50% ten years ago.
What is Diabetes?
In the simplest layman terms, diabetes is a condition where the amount of sugar (glucose) in the blood is higher than the safe and acceptable levels.
But Diabetes is not as simple as that, so let us understand more about it, again, from a layman’s point of view.
We eat to live, while there may be a few who just live to eat.
The body uses this food for energy, by converting it into the various types of nutrients it needs, through a process called metabolism.
The blood carries these nutrients to the various cells.
The sugar in the foods we eat is converted into glucose and passed into the blood.
The pancreas produces a hormone called insulin that moves the glucose from the blood into the cells.
Diabetes is a condition brought about when:
- The pancreas does not produce any insulin at all, or
- The pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or
- The pancreas produces insulin that cannot be used by body, or the body does not use the insulin produced.
Any of the above three situations causes the sugar content in the blood to build up to levels higher than the normal and safe limits, which is called Hyperglycemia or Diabetes. The excess glucose in the blood spills over or drains into the urine giving rise to term ‘Diabetes Mellitus‘
People with higher than normal levels of glucose in their blood can be put into three distinct categories.
- Pre Diabetes
- Type 1 Diabetes
- Type 2 Diabetes
It is the alarming number of people in the first category - Pre Diabetes - that the whole modern world is worried about, and that this website is dedicated to.
Pre diabetes are the group people who do have a higher than normal level of glucose in their blood but do not know it.
Pre diabetics are people whose blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be called diabetes.
Pre diabetic are people who are running the high risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes, which once developed cannot be cured.
Pre diabetes are the group of people who can be saved, because even though Type 2 diabetes cannot be cured, IT CAN BE PREVENTED, no matter how high up the risk ladder the pre-diabetics are in.
Pre diabetes are the group of people who all have once characteristic in common, THEY NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT
A diagnosis of pre-diabetes is a warning sign that diabetes will develop later. The good news however is that, the development of Type 2 diabetes can be prevented by losing weight, making changes in your diet and exercising.
It is a crying shame that we humans always wait till it is too late!
It would not come as a surprise if most of my readers have developed Type 2 Diabetes, and could have prevented it, had they acted in time.
There is no point crying over spilt milk. Let us look at the cure for type 2 Diabetes, that everyone feels is not there.
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