TYPE II DIABETES
WHY CAN’T WE SEEM TO GET IT UNDER CONTROL?
“In 2011-2012, the estimated prevalence of diabetes among U.S. adults was 12 percent to 14 percent and the prevalence of prediabetes was 37 percent to 38 percent, indicating that about half of the U.S. adult population has either diabetes or prediabetes, according to a study in the September 8 issue of JAMA.” A September 2015 issue of Science Daily (Study Finds High Prevalence of Diabetes, Pre-Diabetes in U.S.) discussing a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association.
I’m not quite sure what it takes to get across to people that blood sugar dysregulation, whether blood sugar values are HIGH or LOW, is bad news. In fact, because of EPIGENETIC FACTORS, blood sugar is intimately (causally) linked to more chronic health problems than any other single factor.
A while back (HERE) I showed you how in sunny California, a state where people have year-round sunshine and easy access to fresh FRUITS & VEGETABLES, over half the adult population is either diabetic or pre-diabetc (which for all intents and purposes, is a functional diabetic). I can’t even begin to imagine what those numbers might look like here in Missouri. So, why can’t we get this problem under control?
Whenever governments decide to get involved in the business of healthcare, especially when said healthcare is being provided mostly for CHRONIC CONDITIONS, bad outcomes seem to be the norm (HERE). I would argue that one of the many ways this occurs is by stripping away personal responsibility and destroying incentive — in this case, destroying any sort of financial incentive people might have to get healthy and stay that way.
Case in point is a study that came out earlier this week in PLoS One Medicine (Lifestyle Advice Combined with Personalized Estimates of Genetic or Phenotypic Risk of Type 2 Diabetes, and Objectively Measured Physical Activity).
Researchers from Cambridge University put several hundred “healthy” middle aged individuals into two different groups. In the first group, they gave generalized information about the seriousness of TYPE II DIABETES. In other words, a doctor actually sat down with them for a heart-to-heart about the seriousness of diabetes.
This must surely be beneficial in light of the fact that I have told my readers over and over and over again —- that virtually all health problems either begin with or are fed by blood sugar dysregulation and the mass quantities of inflammation that flows from like lava flowing from Mt. Kileaua (HERE). But this second group was even more intriguing — way more intriguing.
The doctors running the study not only gave people in this group face-to-face advice about the seriousness of diabetes, but they went a step further. They gave them a precision genetic risk estimate of their chances of developing the disease as they got older.
“Evidence from randomized controlled trials shows that positive changes in health behavior can significantly reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes among those considered high-risk. However, translating these findings into preventive strategies has proven difficult, as it requires motivation of individuals to adopt and maintain changes in physical activity and diet. Risk of type 2 diabetes is also influenced by genetics. Estimates [for developing Type II Diabetes] were framed in comparison to the average risk within each participant’s age and sex-specific group, and participants were told what percentage of the study sample had a risk estimate higher, lower, and equal to their own. Each piece of information was represented using a visual scales.“
The testing for this group was extensive, using everything from detailed health questionnaires, blood chem labs, BMI, the Cambridge Diabetic Risk Score, family history, physical activity, diet, as well as some of the same testing methods used by companies who offer genetic testing kits to the general public. After adjusting for numerous confounders (CHOLESTEROL, BLOOD PRESSURE, etc), guess what the researchers discovered? None of it mattered.
It didn’t make a lick of difference what the doctors did, there were, “No significant differences observed between trial groups. The interventions had no effect on physical activity within subgroups defined by age, body mass index, physical activity, self-reported diet, self-reported weight, self-rated health, behavioral intention, perceived risk, anxiety, worry, or receipt of a high or low risk estimate.” In other words, the doctors running the study and providing the recommendations may as well have been spitting into the wind.
This is exactly why, as I have shown you, we don’t need more healthcare. Healthcare — or more appropriately named; “sickness” care —- does nothing as far as PREVENTION is concerned. In fact, more often than not, rather than lighting a fire underneath individuals as a motivation to get healthier and prevent future disease and disability, their “insurance” (in this British study, the word signified nationalized healthcare) actually seems to act as a health inhibitor. Allow me to prove this via something I’ve heard it time and time again in my clinic.
I go to give someone THIS HANDOUT loaded to the gills with potentially life-changing information (all 100% free), and what do I get? “Naw doc, don’t bother giving me that. It’ll only end up in the trash can anyway. I don’t really care about all that taking care of myself stuff. It’s too much bother. Besides, I’ve got good insurance. If I get sick I just go to the doctor and get some medicine. It’s easier that way.”
And the truth is that I’m just as likely to hear this from a millionaire, as someone working their butt off for minimum wage. It’s why I continue to tell anyone who will listen that our current system of American healthcare (as well as the healthcare in much of the rest of the westernized world) is completely UNSUSTAINABLE. This is becoming more apparent as many European countries increasingly adopt an Americanized way of eating (processed foods, junk food, and fast foods).
What’s pretty awesome, however, is that for those of you who are motivated; you can turn your lives around and actually get healthy. In a big way. Trust me on this one: If you can hang on for just one week and start breaking through the almost universal CARB & SUGAR ADDICTION that plagues people struggling with blood sugar dysregulation, the whole process will get way easier. All you have to do is have a plan and stick to it. Does it work? READ THIS and you tell me. What have you got to lose?
Face it; what you’re currently doing sure isn’t working for beans. The doubly cool thing for those of you with blood sugar issues is that EVIDENCE-BASED DIABETIC TREATMENT METHODS are an integral part of our HEALTH PROTOCOL. And it’s all free. It’s kind of like giving you a GOLD BRICK. All you have to do is reach out and take it.
