Half of U.S. adults have diabetes or pre-diabetes

I know athletes who’re technically underweight that eat carefully and they’ve been diagnosed with Type II diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is often linked to obesity and can lead to changes in the heart, which may increase chances of stroke and heart attack.

It’s also possible that new cases of diabetes are starting to fall for the first time in decades because more people are getting the message about lifestyle choices that can contribute to diabetes, noted Dr. David Nathan, director of the diabetes center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

Sophie Cassidy, a PhD student at Newcastle University, United Kingdom, and colleagues analyzed data from 28 adults with type 2 diabetes controlled with diet or metformin who were randomly assigned to high-intensity intermittent training for 12 weeks (n = 12) or standard care (n = 11).

From 1990 to 2008, there has been a steady increase in the prevalence of diabetes, according to the study.

While the news that half of Americans may suffer from the illness, there’s a possibility that some of them don’t have it at all. Prediabetes is a precursor to the full-blown variety; people with it have high sugar levels, U.S. News and World Report added. For these adults, the findings should be a wake-up call to get treatment and make lifestyle changes that include losing weight and being more active, Cowie said.

According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes can damage many organs in the body, including the heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes and kidneys. Although a strong link has been shown between exercise and type-2 diabetes, the effects exercise can have on diabetics’ hearts has remained unknown.

“Diabetes prevalence significantly increased over time in every age group, in both sexes, in every racial and ethnic group, by all education levels, and in all poverty income groups”, the researchers said.

The percentage of white participants affected by diabetes was visibly lower, at 11.3%. “The key is to get your heart rate up”, they said. Diabetes – diagnosed or not – was likely to be highest among Latinos (22.6 per cent), African-Americans (21.8 per cent) and Asian-Americans (20.6 per cent). With obesity starting to stabilize, the prevalence of diabetes may be slowing down as well.

“Although progress has been made, expanded and sustained efforts will be needed to address these pressing health problems.”