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Issue: July 2006 - Vol 1,6

Are You A Part Of The Diabetes Pandemic?

The Center for Disease Control predicts that at least one out of every three Americans born after the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Generally diabetes is thought of as an adult disease, but the emerging reality is that children are increasingly being diagnosed with the disease. Diabetes can result in life threatening complications, but with a few key lifestyle changes, pre-diabetes and adult-onset (type 2) diabetes can be avoided.

Diabetes Fast Facts:

Approximately 40% of Americans between the ages of 40 and 74 have pre-diabetes (also known as Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X).
Studies indicate that many people diagnosed with pre-diabetes will develop diabetes within 10 years.
20.8 million Americans have diabetes.
6.2 million Americans with diabetes remain undiagnosed.
Approximately 45% of the children diagnosed with diabetes have “adult onset” or type 2 diabetes.
Heart disease and stroke account for about 65% of deaths in people with diabetes.

What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic health problem stemming from elevated blood sugar (glucose) levels. Glucose is a simple sugar that our bodies derive from the foods that we eat. The body’s metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fats leads directly to the production of glucose, which enters the bloodstream after a meal and is the necessary nutrient to provide energy to every cell in the body. When too much glucose is present in the bloodstream, diabetes results.

Glucose levels become too high when the glucose isn’t able to enter the cells in the bloodstream. Imagine that your bloodstream is a highway and each cell in the bloodstream is a car. Cars need gasoline (glucose) in order to run, and these cars within your bloodstream require a key to unlock the gas cap before the tank can be filled. In your body, this key is insulin. Without insulin the glucose cannot get into the cells and it is left to float freely though the bloodstream. Just as a car without gasoline will eventually fail to run, your body will begin to suffer without glucose.

What’s happened to the insulin key?

In the case of type 1 diabetes, the machine that makes the key is broken. Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependant diabetes, is actually the result of a problem with the pancreas, which produces and releases insulin. The pancreas is responsible for regulating blood sugar levels by releasing insulin into the bloodstream when glucose levels become elevated. In some people, however, the pancreas does not function properly and either produces defective insulin or simply fails to produce enough insulin to adequately regulate glucose levels. It is estimated that 5-10% of people diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes. With type 2 diabetes, it’s as if someone changed the locks on the gas caps. You still have a key but it just doesn’t work anymore. That’s what we call insulin resistance. A person with type 2 diabetes generally has a healthy pancreas, which continues to produce and release insulin; however, the cells in the bloodstream no longer recognize the insulin and fail to let the glucose in.

While the cause of type 1 diabetes is still unknown, type 2 diabetes is the result of many factors, such as obesity, lack of physical activity and poor eating habits. Children have become increasingly at risk of developing type 2 diabetes due to the rising childhood obesity rates in our country.

What is pre-diabetes?
Pre-diabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but have not yet reached a diabetic level. Testing blood sugar levels after eating a meal can indicate if a pre-diabetic state is present. It is estimated that 1 in 4 American adults have pre-diabetes and studies indicate that many of those who fall within the pre-diabetic blood sugar range will develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years. Progression to diabetes may be avoided, however, with lifestyle changes such as altering eating habits, regular physical activity and losing weight.

What complications are associated with diabetes?

When glucose levels become too elevated, it presents a toxic danger to every organ in the body. While 500,000 people die annually from complications associated with diabetes, others suffer serious health problems. Diabetics often succumb to diabetic retinopathy, a condition that impairs the tiny blood vessels of the retina and causes approximately 12,000 new cases of blindness each year. Diabetics are also at increased risk of cataracts and glaucoma, cancer, heart disease, stroke, hormonal imbalance and peripheral neuropathy in which the body’s nerves are damaged.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 2 out of 3 people with diabetes die from heart disease and stroke.

Diabetes Fast Facts:

Approximately 73% of adults with diabetes have high blood pressure.
In 2002, about 82,000 lower limb amputations were performed in people with diabetes.
Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, accounting for 44% of the new cases in 2002.
About 60% - 70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nervous system damage which can result in impaired sensation or pain in the feet or hands, slow digestion of food in the stomach, carpal tunnel syndrome and other nervous problems.
People with diabetes are more susceptible to many other illnesses and, once they acquire these illnesses, often have worse prognoses. For example, they are more likely to die from pneumonia or influenza than people who do not have diabetes.

A study reported in the November 2003 issue of Diabetes Care found that young people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are 14 times more likely to suffer a heart attack than those without diabetes.

What are the symptoms of diabetes?

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes include:

Excessive thirst
Increased urination
Weight loss despite increased appetite
Nausea
Vomiting
Abdominal pain
Fatigue
Absence of menstruation

Symptoms of type 2 diabetes IN ADULTS include:

Excessive thirst
Increased urination
Fatigue
Blurred vision
Weight gain
Yeast infections
Gum problems
Rashes
Impotence in men
Tingling and burning in the extremities

Symptoms of type 2 diabetes IN CHILDREN:
It is interesting to note that symptoms in children are often different than those found in adults with type 2 diabetes. Most children with type 2 diabetes are obese or overweight but do not display any other symptoms.

Am I at risk for diabetes?

Type 1 Diabetes Risk Factors:
Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age but usually appears between infancy and the late 30s, most typically in childhood or adolescence. Boys and girls are equally vulnerable. Studies report the following may be risk factors for developing type 1 diabetes:

Being ill in early infancy
Having an older mother
Having a mother with type 1 diabetes
Having a mother who had preeclampsia during pregnancy

Pre-Diabetes & Type 2 Diabetes Risk Factors:

Being over 40
Family history of diabetes
Being overweight
Not exercising regularly
Ethnicity (African-American, Hispanic-American and Native-American)
History of diabetes during pregnancy or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds
Low levels of HDL cholesterol
High triglyceride levels

Should my family be tested?

Absolutely! Children who have a weight problem or poor eating habits or adults over 40 should be tested for diabetes even if you do not have any other risk factors. If you are younger than 40 and have one or more risk factors, you should also be tested.

Schedule an appointment for testing today by calling our front office at (714) 669-4446!

We recommend the following products:

Metabolic Rx
Glucolow
Lipoic Acid
Essential Fatty Acids
Naturadiet

Please call our office at (949) 680-1880 for pricing and availability.

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We've Moved!

Center For New Medicine is proud to announce that we have moved our be moving to a brand new office building in the Irvine Spectrum.

Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter where we will detail the exciting new services that we’ve added, many at low introductory prices! Exciting things are in store for the future of Center For New Medicine and we can’t wait to share them with you!

To view a map of our new location, please click here
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