Type 1 Diabetes

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A worry will be individuals are knowledgeable about consuming food products as well as liquids which cause excess pounds. A difficult part will probably be modifying routines so that nourishing food and refreshments tend to be consumed rather than poor merchandise.

 

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Parents overlook diabetes signs...

Parents 'unaware of type 1 diabetes symptoms'
13 November 2012 - Type 1 diabetes is treated with daily insulin doses

About 90% of parents are unaware of the four key symptoms of type 1 diabetes in children, a survey suggests. The poll of 1,170 parents, for Diabetes UK, suggests many cases go undetected until the child becomes seriously ill. In the BBC News website Scrubbing Up column, its chief executive says about 2,000 under-18s are diagnosed with the condition in the UK each year. The main signs are tiredness, needing the toilet more, excessive thirst and weight loss.

An estimated 3.7 million people in the UK have diabetes. Type 1 affects about 10% of them. It appears before the age of 40, usually in childhood. It is treated by daily insulin doses - taken either by injections or via an insulin pump - a healthy diet and regular physical activity Type 2 develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly.

'Obvious'

Most of the parents surveyed knew thirstiness and tiredness were warning signs. But only 38% knew passing urine frequently was an indication of type 1 diabetes, while even fewer - 28% - linked weight loss with the condition. The charity says this is one reason why a quarter of children with type 1 diabetes are only diagnosed once they are already seriously ill with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a life threatening condition that needs immediate specialist treatment in hospital. DKA happens when the body is unable to break down glucose because there is too little insulin, and it begins to break down fat instead. This causes a by-product called ketones to build up. DKA can lead to children falling into a coma and can even cause death.

Diabetes UK is launching a campaign to raise awareness among parents and professionals. Barbara Young, chief executive for Diabetes UK, said: "The symptoms of type 1 diabetes are so obvious and pronounced that there is no reason why every child with the condition cannot be diagnosed straight away. "As well as making parents and those who look after and work with children aware of the symptoms, we need to increase understanding that a child who has any of the four tees needs to be tested straight away. "This is because onset can be so quick that a delay of a matter of hours can be the difference between being diagnosed at the right time and being diagnosed too late."

BBC News - Parents 'unaware of type 1 diabetes symptoms'

 

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Diabetes increases in Okla. & the South...

Diabetes rates rocket in Oklahoma, South
15 Nov.`12 — The nation's diabetes problem is getting worse, and the biggest jump over 15 years was in Oklahoma, according to a new federal report issued Thursday.

The diabetes rate in Oklahoma more than tripled, and Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama also saw dramatic increases since 1995, the study showed. The South's growing weight problem is the main explanation, said Linda Geiss, lead author of the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. "The rise in diabetes has really gone hand in hand with the rise in obesity," she said. Bolstering the numbers is the fact that more people with diabetes are living longer because better treatments are available.

The disease exploded in the United States in the last 50 years, with the vast majority from obesity-related Type 2 diabetes. In 1958, fewer than 1 in 100 Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes. In 2010, it was about 1 in 14. Most of the increase has happened since 1990. Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing sugar; it's the nation's seventh leading cause of death. Complications include poor circulation, heart and kidney problems and nerve damage.

The new study is the CDC's first in more than a decade to look at how the nationwide boom has played out in different states. It's based on telephone surveys of at least 1,000 adults in each state in 1995 and 2010. Participants were asked if a doctor had ever told them they have diabetes. Not surprisingly, Mississippi — the state with the largest proportion of residents who are obese — has the highest diabetes rate. Nearly 12 percent of Mississippians say they have diabetes, compared to the national average of 7 percent.

But the most dramatic increases in diabetes occurred largely elsewhere in the South and in the Southwest, where rates tripled or more than doubled. Oklahoma's rate rose to about 10 percent, Kentucky went to more than 9 percent, Georgia to 10 percent and Alabama surpassed 11 percent. An official with Oklahoma State Department of Health said the solution is healthier eating, more exercise and no smoking. "And that's it in a nutshell," said Rita Reeves, diabetes prevention coordinator. Several Northern states saw rates more than double, too, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Maine. The study was published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Diabetes rates rocket in Oklahoma, South - Yahoo! News

 

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Granny says, "Corn syrup food sweetener is the culprit...

Researchers Link Global Diabetes Rise to Corn Syrup Food Sweetener
November 29, 2012 - There is new evidence that large amounts of high fructose corn syrup - a sweetener used in food products consumed around the world - could be a major factor in the accelerating global epidemic of type 2 diabetes, according to U.S. and British researchers.

A study by Michael Goran of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and colleagues at Britain’s Oxford University concludes that countries that use high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, in their food supplies have a 20 percent higher prevalence of diabetes on average than countries that do not use the sweetener. The researchers analyzed data from 42 countries that report their use of HFCS. Goran, who directs USC’s Childhood Obesity Research Center, says those countries with food products that contain higher amounts HFCS have an average eight percent prevalence of type 2 diabetes. That compares to just 6.7 percent in countries that used no high fructose corn syrup. Goran says HFCS contains more fructose, or fruit sugar, than other sweeteners, such as sucrose or table sugar. HFCS is harmful, Goran believes, because the body processes it differently than other forms of sugar. “There is evidence that it is taken up almost exclusively by the liver where it can be repackaged as fat and contribute to fatty liver, which contributes to insulin resistance and then to diabetes," said Goran.

High fructose corn syrup is added to processed foods because it is cheaper than other sweeteners so less is needed and, says Goran, it combines well with baking ingredients and gives cakes and pies a nice brown color. Soft drinks contain more HFCS than most other products, but the sweetener can be found in nearly all processed foods, including cookies, rolls and other baked goods, cold cereals and even baby food. John White is president of White Technical Research. Speaking for the Washington-based Corn Refiners Association, White says Goran’s study is flawed and inconsistent. “For example, if you look at the United States that has 22 times the higher fructose corn syrup consumption than Malaysia, you should see a correspondingly higher incidence of diabetes. But Malaysia’s incidence of diabetes is actually ten percent higher," said White.

Earlier this year, U.S. federal regulators rejected a petition by corn growers to change the name of high fructose corn syrup to corn sugar, a name the growers believed would sound more appealing to consumers. Meanwhile, researcher Michael Goran says he would like to see products with labels identifying the percentage of HFCS in them, in much the same way that fats are now identified on food packaging. The article on high fructose corn syrup and diabetes is published in the journal Global Public Health.

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Diabetes Explodes in Sub-Saharan Africa
November 28, 2012: Diabetes, a life-long disease that increases sugar levels in the blood, affects over 366 million people worldwide. The NGO Project Hope, based in the U.S. state of Virginia, said in sub-Saharan Africa that diabetes, once a rarity for Africans, is now affecting over 12 million people. The organization said there is an urgent need to expand education about the disease in developing countries, and they recently opened a center in Johannesburg in partnership with the pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, that addresses the needs of patients at risk of developing diabetes, and those living with it.

Paul Madden, Project Hope’s senior advisor for non-communicable diseases, explained that diabetes is rapidly spreading throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and even other developing countries around the world, largely due to lifestyle changes. People generally are not as active as previous generations, and they are in jobs that require them to sit or stand for long periods of time. Another reason for the increase in the rate of diabetes is eating processed food. “The way things are packaged, they’re often in bigger portion sizes than the body needs. So it’s the portion sizes, lack of activity. In some of the villages and towns and cities in Africa, it’s people are living longer, and as you live longer and get less active, and also taking in a few too many calories on some days, and if you do that over many years, you gain weight,” explained Madden.

In countries where there are food crises, Madden said you have a moral dilemma of having to feed people. Much of the foods donated from the international community are calorie-dense foods, and while making sure that hungry people are fed is vital, it is also important to educate people about food and nutrition, so they can properly take care of themselves. Madden described Project Hope’s way of tackling this challenge. “We see our peer group every day. We see family members every day, so we actually are going in and training community health workers," he said. "I think of our Hope Clinic in South Africa, just outside of Johannesburg, and in that program, yes, we have well-trained professionals who run the clinic. But we also are training not just the person who comes in with obesity, with diabetes, but we’re training family members too. And we invite them also to bring an important friend in to join us for the education.”

Madden said Project Hope plans to stay in the community for several years or more, so that the education process will be successful, “but at some point, we want the local leaders, the local medical teams, the local educators, role models, village leaders, to run those programs. And as you know . . . throughout Africa and the world there are so many groups that need some assistance right now.” Madden said Type 2 diabetes is the form of the disease that is exploding in Africa right now. “And Type 2 diabetes is the type that tends to develop when the waist line gets bigger. We get less active, too many calories on the plate or in the bottle, however we do it, drink it or eat it. So it’s that Type 2 diabetes that we often see developing a little later in life. And in a frightening way too, I’ve been in the business for 38 years now as a diabetes specialist. If you and I were talking 38 years ago, I would tell you that type 2 diabetes from too big a waist line, too many calories, too little activity, was virtually non-existent in Africa and the world,” he explained.

There are other factors that must also be considered when looking at causes of diabetes. For example, in some countries that are experiencing fighting and instability, parents are keeping their children indoors to keep them out of harm’s way. “So sometimes it’s even a safety issue that these families are saying, we don’t want you going out. Well, it’s real hard to get more adequate physical activity when you live in a beautiful one room house that you share with four other people. So it gets very difficult to promote the activity sometimes,” said Madden.

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