Oct 31, 2008 8:36 pm US/Eastern
CDC: Obesity Is Behind Increase In Diabetes Cases
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (CBS) ―
Diabetes is the seventh-leading cause of death in the US, affecting more than 23 million Americans, with more than a million and a half new cases diagnosed just last year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sounding an alarm, with obesity behind the trend.
Diabetes doubled in a decade says the CDC -- not surprising to this diabetes specialist who has been seeing more and more patients with this condition, in part, due to new diagnostic criteria.
"The terms borderline diabetes, chemical diabetes, are no longer in sync with the modern teaching," says West Penn Hospital's Dr. Wayne Evron.
When you breakdown the states, nearby West virginia fares the worst, where 13 out of every thousand people have it; the best -- Minnesota, with only five people per thousand.
"In West Virginia, with all the poverty, a lot of times you see more obesity, and hence more diabetes," explains says Dr. Evron.
Pennsylvania has nine per thousand now, compared to 10years ago, when it was just four per thousand. Similar figures are seen for the nation as a whole.
"I think in Pennsylvania, it's an interesting population. In the west, we're quite old. In the east, it's quite young. So if you look at the two in combination, you're going to get a good survey of the national population," notes the doctor.
The vast majority are cases of Type 2 diabetes -- where too much weight can play a roll.
Obesity causes the body to not process sugar and certain carbohydrates the right way.
Some people might worry the binge of Halloween will bring on the illness.
"One day of eating candy is not going to cause anything. It's over a lifetime," says Dr. Evron. "You just want to realize that's not the best food to eat day after day."
The numbers come from a phone survey of 260,000 adults. They were asked if they were ever told by a doctor they had diabetes. But because some people go undiagnosed, it could underestimate the problem.
Some groups at risk are people whose parents both had diabetes, women who had diabetes while pregnant, and people with expanding waistlines. Diet, exercise, and sometimes medications can keep high blood sugar at bay, along with its serious complications.
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