Living Healthy

Health Products Review

Diabetes 2 Treatment – Time For Action!

January 15th, 2009

Richard

Diabetes statistics today can be quite shocking: there is one person in the world dying of diabetes every ten seconds. There will be two new diabetic cases in the world identified every ten seconds. Mellitus Diabetes is on the increase.

The International Diabetes Federation’s statistics for 2007, reveal the nations with the most cases of diabetes as: India (40.9 million), China (39.8 million), the United States (19.2 million), Russia (9.6 million) and Germany (7.4 million).

The three countries with the most people with diabetes are expected to remain India, China, and the U.S.

I live in Australia, where the fastest growing chronic disease is Type 2 diabetes. On average, 214 people are diagnosed every day. That’s almost 1,500 people every week, and 78,110 people every year.

Some 599,259 Australians have been diagnosed with diabetes (2007).

It is considered that for every person with a diagnosis, there is another mellitus diabetes sufferer who is unaware that they have the disease.

That combines to a total of 1.19 million people who actually have diabetes. Diabetes Australia expects the number to reach 1.8 million by 2010.

There are three main types of diabetes that affect us:

Type 1 diabetes

In Type 1 diabetes there is a total or near-total lack of insulin producttion. The body has destroyed its own insulin producing cells, which are found in the pancreas.

Type 1 accounts for around 10-15% of all people with diabetes. and in Australia this means 0.5% of the population.

Type 2 diabetes

In Type 2 diabetes there may be a reduced production of insulin (insulin deficiency). This may be in combination
with an inability of the body to use insulin properly (insulin resistance).

The disease mostly occurs in people aged 40 years and over. Type 1 accounts for 85-90% of all people with diabetes; and about 3.5% of the population. Risk increases with age: nearly 1 in 4 people aged 75 and over have Type 2
diabetes; whilst it occurs in less than 1 in 1,000 people in their 20s.

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes may arise in pregnancy for about 3-8% of females who have not previously diagnosed with diabetes.

It is a temporary form of diabetes and usually clears up after childbirth. However, it idoes indicate a greater risk of
developing Type 2 diabetes later in life.

What Should We Do?

Rates of diabetes onset are increasing in all age groups.

In Australia, the average cost for a person with Type 2 diabetes who has no complications is $10,900. If there are complications this cost almost doubles to $20,525. A staggering 12% of the Australian health costs is taken up by just 4% of the people who have diagnosed diabetes.

It is in the middle aged band of the population where 85% of the diabetes occurs (Type 2). Much of this can be
avoided.

Diabetes 2 treatment and management is highly achievable. We can all help to reduce our risk of getting
diabetes by maintaining a healthy weight, doing regular exercise, and eating a balanced diet. Three programs aimed at helping us to do that are reviewed here : ”Diabetes 2 Treatment “.