The Problem
Diabetes is one of the fastest growing health problems in the United States today. More than 16 million Americans have diabetes. There are several types of diabetes among them are; Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that develops only in pregnant women. Type 1 diabetes is better known as juvenile-onset diabetes. However it is Type 2 that is becoming a national epidemic.
The risk group for type 2 diabetes can include older aged individuals, people suffering from obesity, those with a family history of diabetes, physically inactive people and those with impaired glucose tolerance. While the disease cuts across racial lines, those of African-America, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders are at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes. A few of the symptoms of this form of diabetes can be; frequent urination, excessive thirst, unexplained weight loss, extreme hunger, sudden vision changes, trembling or numbness in the hands or feet and feeling tired much of the time. Any one having these symptoms should see a doctor.
The Causes
This form of diabetes can develop at any age. Type 2 diabetes often begins with insulin resistance, a condition where fat, muscle and liver cells do not use the insulin properly. There is believed to be a strong genetic link in Type 2. Several genes are being studied by scientists that may be related to this type of diabetes. However in some respects Type 2 seems to be a self-induced disease.
Type 2 diabetes is spreading down the age ladder and is striking teenagers at an alarming rate. A person who becomes a diabetic as a teenager will have terrible complications by the time they are thirty. Why are today’s teens so susceptible to diabetes today? To be blunt they are lazy, fat and glued to the Xbox or Playstation 2. Teenagers of today do not take part in sports, ride bikes or engage in most of the recreational activities of just a generation ago.
If you can find a park in decent condition, do you ever see any unorganized activity taking place? Chances are no. Today parents focus so much on living their lives through their children that they are now damaging physically. Often by the age of ten sports programs have determined which 15-20 kids are the athletes, sending the vast majority inside to sit in front of the television playing video games, or worse.
Many of today’s teens spend so much time behind a computer that their rear ends are fused to the chair. According to Project Takeoff the amount of overweight adolescents (12-19) has tripled. As a teen does less diabetes starts to slow the body’s metabolism further causing the sufferer to be come more lethargic and irritable. As young Johnny becomes fatter and less socially skilled he hides behind a television or computer screen eating himself to death. Instead of expanding his horizons with healthy activities, they are expanding their waste lines and shortening their lives.
While the young may be able to blame adults and today’s hi-tech society, their parents only have themselves to blame. Perhaps the most informed, as to healthy lifestyle choices, they are the most narcissistic and self-destructive group of individuals in history. In an effort to have it all they have sacrificed years of their lives to fast food, alcohol, tobacco and laziness.
We have become so lazy that pizza and movies are delivered to our homes. Families across America fight to see who has to get up and answer the door. God forbid we can’t find the remote control. Do you remember, or have tried to explain to a teen, when we had to get up and change the channel, turn up the volume by hand? People complain about the cost of a gallon of gas, not realizing that the medical cost for each diabetic costs between $10,000 to $12,000 annually. Pass the pepperoni.
In our rush to surpass the Jones, the stress of sixty hour work weeks is adding to our susceptibility to diabetes. With pagers, cell phones, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, emails, walkie-talkie phones there is no escape from the hassles of work.
We gain weight as we sit in front of our terminal eating our super stacker burger with the works, biggie fry and Diet Coke. For people in their forties, the incidence of diabetes has increased by 40 percent over the past eight years. The life expectancy of people over forty with Type 2 diabetes decreases by 5-10 years. With the stress, poor eating habits and lack of exercise is any wonder that heart disease is the leading cause of death for people with Type 2 diabetes.
In response to the growing health burden and cost of diabetes, we are faced with three choices: prevent diabetes, control diabetes and improving the medical communities’ ability to care for those suffering from diabetes.
Quite simply we could cut the risks of Type 2 diabetes by pushing ourselves away from the table and taking a walk in the park. A number of studies have shown that regular physical activity, only 30 minutes a day, a person can greatly reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is one of the fastest growing health problems in the United States today. More than 16 million Americans have diabetes. There are several types of diabetes among them are; Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that develops only in pregnant women. Type 1 diabetes is better known as juvenile-onset diabetes. However it is Type 2 that is becoming a national epidemic.
The risk group for type 2 diabetes can include older aged individuals, people suffering from obesity, those with a family history of diabetes, physically inactive people and those with impaired glucose tolerance. While the disease cuts across racial lines, those of African-America, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders are at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes. A few of the symptoms of this form of diabetes can be; frequent urination, excessive thirst, unexplained weight loss, extreme hunger, sudden vision changes, trembling or numbness in the hands or feet and feeling tired much of the time. Any one having these symptoms should see a doctor.
The Causes
This form of diabetes can develop at any age. Type 2 diabetes often begins with insulin resistance, a condition where fat, muscle and liver cells do not use the insulin properly. There is believed to be a strong genetic link in Type 2. Several genes are being studied by scientists that may be related to this type of diabetes. However in some respects Type 2 seems to be a self-induced disease.
Type 2 diabetes is spreading down the age ladder and is striking teenagers at an alarming rate. A person who becomes a diabetic as a teenager will have terrible complications by the time they are thirty. Why are today’s teens so susceptible to diabetes today? To be blunt they are lazy, fat and glued to the Xbox or Playstation 2. Teenagers of today do not take part in sports, ride bikes or engage in most of the recreational activities of just a generation ago.
If you can find a park in decent condition, do you ever see any unorganized activity taking place? Chances are no. Today parents focus so much on living their lives through their children that they are now damaging physically. Often by the age of ten sports programs have determined which 15-20 kids are the athletes, sending the vast majority inside to sit in front of the television playing video games, or worse.
Many of today’s teens spend so much time behind a computer that their rear ends are fused to the chair. According to Project Takeoff the amount of overweight adolescents (12-19) has tripled. As a teen does less diabetes starts to slow the body’s metabolism further causing the sufferer to be come more lethargic and irritable. As young Johnny becomes fatter and less socially skilled he hides behind a television or computer screen eating himself to death. Instead of expanding his horizons with healthy activities, they are expanding their waste lines and shortening their lives.
While the young may be able to blame adults and today’s hi-tech society, their parents only have themselves to blame. Perhaps the most informed, as to healthy lifestyle choices, they are the most narcissistic and self-destructive group of individuals in history. In an effort to have it all they have sacrificed years of their lives to fast food, alcohol, tobacco and laziness.
We have become so lazy that pizza and movies are delivered to our homes. Families across America fight to see who has to get up and answer the door. God forbid we can’t find the remote control. Do you remember, or have tried to explain to a teen, when we had to get up and change the channel, turn up the volume by hand? People complain about the cost of a gallon of gas, not realizing that the medical cost for each diabetic costs between $10,000 to $12,000 annually. Pass the pepperoni.
In our rush to surpass the Jones, the stress of sixty hour work weeks is adding to our susceptibility to diabetes. With pagers, cell phones, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, emails, walkie-talkie phones there is no escape from the hassles of work.
We gain weight as we sit in front of our terminal eating our super stacker burger with the works, biggie fry and Diet Coke. For people in their forties, the incidence of diabetes has increased by 40 percent over the past eight years. The life expectancy of people over forty with Type 2 diabetes decreases by 5-10 years. With the stress, poor eating habits and lack of exercise is any wonder that heart disease is the leading cause of death for people with Type 2 diabetes.
In response to the growing health burden and cost of diabetes, we are faced with three choices: prevent diabetes, control diabetes and improving the medical communities’ ability to care for those suffering from diabetes.
Quite simply we could cut the risks of Type 2 diabetes by pushing ourselves away from the table and taking a walk in the park. A number of studies have shown that regular physical activity, only 30 minutes a day, a person can greatly reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
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