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Type 2 diabetes may mean shorter life

Published on March 7, 2011 in Health and Wellness. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

A middle-aged person with Type 2 diabetes will lose about six years of their life due to the disease. According to researchers, this is just one year less than a smoker would lose of the same age. Additionally, he or she has more than double the chance of dying from cardiovascular disease as someone who does not have diabetes and the report also says that they are 25 percent more prone to die of cancer. The report was based on an international study of more than 820,000 people that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

There is more bad news for people with Type 2 diabetes. The study indicates that they are also more likely to die from kidney disease, pneumonia, liver disease, infectious diseases and even intentional self-harm.

This study was run by the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration at the University of Cambridge in England. The data collected is particularly upsetting because of the speedy incidence of diabetes cases in the United States, most likely from the increase in obesity. There is currently an estimated 25.8 million Americans with diabetes, which is 10 million more than just 20 years ago.

Dr. David Kendall of the American Diabetes Association said that researchers already knew that diabetes could cut short one’s lifespan but this recent study shows just how many years of life could be lost and to what causes.

Also shown in the report was the fact that people with pre-diabetes, having blood glucose levels higher than normal but not yet diabetic, are at risk from many of the same causes of death. There is an estimated 79 million Americans who have pre-diabetes.

Kendall said that even though diabetes is frequently seen as just a condition instead of an illness, as something one can just live with. He said, “well, in fact, this shows that it is associated with a significant risk of both morbidity and mortality.”

The report from the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration found that diabetics were 2.32 times as likely as non-diabetics to die from cardiovascular disease and 25 percent more likely to die from cancer. Also diabetes was somewhat related to death from cancers of the pancreas, ovary, colon, liver, rectum, lung, bladder and breast.

The study did not have enough proof on whether Type 1 diabetes, when the pancreas stops producing insulin, is associated with a risk for cancer.

 

Why excess belly fat is a health hazard

Published on April 19, 2010 in Health and Wellness. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Having too much belly fat is definitely a bummer when you are trying to shop for new jeans or put on that swimsuit for that first day at the pool. This said, it is also linked with a smorgasbord of health problems like increased blood glucose levels, Type 2 diabetes, elevated blood pressure and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Dr. Donald Hensrud, the chair of the division of preventive medicine at the Mayo Clinic diet, said “There’s an increased risk of heart disease with increasing waist circumference or abdominal fat, and increased risk of overall mortality.”

So basically,  if you can lose the belly, you’ll be happier and healthier.

According to Hensrud, there are two kinds of belly fat; subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Inside the abdominal wall you have visceral fat and outside the abdominal wall is subcutaneous fat, which is the fat that you can actually grab. It is usually assumed that visceral fat is more dangerous and is linked with more health risks.  Most of the time, this is true, but there’s some evidence that subcutaneous fat can be harmful as well.

So what do you do if you are extra thick around the middle? Well there are steps you can take. First of all, if you drink alcohol, try to stop or cut down, especially if you like beer. If you can’t stop cold turkey, at least switch to light beer and try to limit your drinking to the weekends.

There is some evidence that points to skipping breakfast as being a culprit in visceral fat accumulation, according to Hensrud. He also said that some dietary patterns tend to affect fat distribution. One study revealed that a diet with 25 percent of calories coming from fructose was connected with a surge in weight gain.

I’m sure I don’t have to remind you to exercise when you are trying to reduce that belly, but forget about spot-reducing. Hensrud said “Either doing specific exercise, crunches, or wearing one of these belts around the middle things, it doesn’t work.”

The good news is that once you do begin to lose weight, you may notice it first in your belly area. According to Hensrud, visceral fat appears to be more metabolically active, so it’s accumulated and broken down more rapidly that fat in other areas.

Hensrud also said that two studies found that people who failed to lose weight during an exercise program still lost visceral fat in their abdomens.