Diabetes only affects the other guy, right? Right. Problem is, there are over 23 million other guys. Take this quick little Fantasy Healthball quiz to find out if you might be next: 1) Are you getting any younger? 2) Do you get daily moderate to vigorous exercise? 3) Is your diet full of fruits, vegetables, and the healthiest foods? If you answered no to these questions….well, you know.
Recently, I was trying to figure out the number of Americans with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It was no easy task because I kept finding different numbers. I quickly figured out that the reason for the discrepancy was that the number is constantly growing. Over a million and a half new cases were diagnosed last year bringing the total to over 23 million. Only 5-10% of those are type 1 diabetes.
Michael Krasny at KQED did a great show in diabetes this month which, if you missed, you can HEAR by clicking HERE. By the way, Krasny is diabetic.
His guest Dr. Ed Gregg said the reason for spike in type 2 diabetes is in part due to increased awareness and detection. Another huge part of it, though, has to do with weight and obesity trends. Diabetes trends parallel trends in obesity. 
Other factors include: age, diet, ethnicity, poverty, and related cultural influences of these that affect what people eat and how active they are. The above map shows the highest risk in the south. And though I have raved about the healthiness of California in past blog posts, California has a huge increase due to increasing numbers of people in all the above categories.
Type 1 diabetes has increased as well, but the real spike in the US is fueled by the increase to type 2. Dr. Gregg summarized the difference in type 1 (Jay Leeuwenburg and Jay Cutler) and type 2 like this: the pancreas of people with type 1 diabetes is not producing any insulin and they need insulin from other sources to survive. Type 2 is a mixture of body not using its own efficiently and then over time not secreting as much insulin. Type 1 diabetes is in part an auto-immune response whereas type 2 diabetes has a number of causes but obesity and weight gain over the course of life has greater impact on body’s ability to use insulin efficiently.
What to Do: First, you can get tested to detect as early as possible. You should get tested if you are overweight, obese, elderly, others in your family have been diabetic, or you have other medical conditions such as high cholesterol. One test screens fasting blood sugar. If the numerical result is between 100 and 125, you are pre-diabetic and already have an increased risk for stroke or heart attack. Over 125 is diabetic which increases the risk for those, and also kidney failure, blindness, and other things that can ruin your day.
How to avoid type 2: If you are pre-diabetic or you think you might be at risk, the doctors recommend losing some weight (starting with 5-10%), go on a lower calorie diet, and increase physical activity. The CDC recommends a structured program to increase physical activity. Imagine that, a structured program keeps your head in the game. Well, we’ve got the game for you. Hut one, hut two….. – Jim Ballard
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