Dr. Mercola May 15 2004 2,422 views
One of the precautions recommended was following a modest diet and participating in regular exercise.
U.S. Diabetes Statistics
18 million Americans are afflicted with full-blown diabetes.
Diabetes is cited as the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and amputations.
In the United States, diabetes claims 180,000 lives each year.
Obesity has often been linked to diabetes, a condition that people often develop in their middle age, although it is becoming increasingly common at younger and younger ages.
Blood sugar levels readings below 110 milligrams per deciliter, which were once been measured by the "impaired fasting glucose" test, have since been changed. The new guidelines reflected that only readings below 100 milligrams were considered normal and anyone with a fasting glucose between 100 and 125 milligrams now fell under the category of pre-diabetic.
Candidates for the Test
Anyone considered overweight and over the age of 45
Experts stressed that patients who tested positive for pre-diabetes could take preventative measures such as implementing a moderate walking regimen and working on losing 5 percent to 7 percent of their body weight to avoid developing the full-blown disease.
CBS News April 29, 2004
I was surprised when I recently learned that the number of people who have pre-diabetes has more than doubled since the last estimate two years ago.
My surprise was that I missed that the American Diabetes Association had changed the definition of normal to a fasting blood sugar between 100 and 125. Even the CDC's Web page doesn't have the new definition yet. Previously, it has been between 110.
Interestingly, I had said the number should have been that for many years.
Under the old criteria, there used to be 16 million pre-diabetics in the United States and now there are 41 million, in addition to the 17 million with full-blown diabetes.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 293 million people who live in the United States and since 59 million have the problem, that means 20 percent have either diabetes or pre-diabetes. Interestingly, in my own practice that number is significantly lower. We have over 10,000 tests in our electronic medical records database and we came up with the same percentage.
If you haven't had your fasting blood sugar taken recently, I would strongly encourage you to do so.
It is a very inexpensive test that would be very helpful. The formal definition of pre-diabetes is blood sugars over 110, yet below 126. However, realistically it should be below 100. If your blood sugar is over 100, you will most certainly want to use the two most effective "drugs" known for diabetes:
Diet and exercise.
One of the most important changes you could make to your diet is replacing grain carbohydrates with vegetable greens. Making this change is critical to keeping your insulin levels at an optimal level.
Eating too many carbohydrates causes insulin levels to rise, sending your body a hormonal message essentially telling it to store fat while holding on to the fat that is already there. So not only will excess carbohydrates make you fat, they will make you stay fat.
Limiting sugar is crucial in moderating this insulin response.
Exercise is also another key factor to preventing diabetes.
Exercise works by increasing the sensitivity of insulin receptors so the insulin that is present works much more effectively and your body doesn't need to produce as much.
Pre-diabetes is far easier to turn around in the earlier stages than the later stages and achieving a healthy weight through diet and exercise can put most people on the road to reversing the disease.
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