Diabetes : Out of control pandemic

 

The worldwide incidence of diabetes is out of control. Every 2 minutes people are being diagnosed with Diabetes, it’s a worldwide pandemic – India, Africa, China, America, and Australia. If you are of Asian or African origin the risk is even higher. The older you are, and the more overweight you are, the higher the risk.

A study from the Lancet medical journal predicts a doubling of new cases of type 1 diabetes in European children younger than 5 years between 2005 and 2020, and prevalent cases younger than 15 years will rise by 70%.

Type 1 diabetes is a type of auto-immune disease, whereby the immune system selectively destroys cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.

There are two lines of thought as to why this might happen. One is to do with external factors, such as infections or food allergies triggering the immune to ‘cross-react’ against pancreatic cells. It has been proposed that early introduction of foods, before the age of 4 months, might increase risk. Early introduction of milk, in animal studies, has been shown to increase incidence of type-1 diabetes, but human studies have not confirmed this. Type-1 diabetics are much more likely to have coeliacs disease, (gluten-sensitivity).  A recent study not only found that almost half of type-1 diabetes had anti-TG2 antibodies, which is a diagnostic marker of coeliacs disease, but also that the majority had deposits of these antibodies in their intestines. This might suggest that early introduction of wheat products might increase risk. Paediatric advice is to exclusively breast-feed for at least six months.

The other line of thought is that rapid growth and overweight, lead to too much insulin being produced and this overload on the insulin-producing cells may lead to their self-destruction.  Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to a higher incidence of type-1 diabetes. Vitamin D is made in the skin, in the presence of sunlight and is also rich in oily fish.

Once type-1 diabetes has occurred, although not reversible, the best type of diet to follow is my Low GL Diet. This diet keeps blood sugar levels more even and enhances the action of insulin, thus might lead to lessening insulin requirements.

 

NEWSCLIP BY DR MERCOLA

5 Reasons Why Type One Diabetes is on the Rise

A 2009 study in The Lancet found that new cases of type- 1 diabetes in kids could double in the next 10 years. Possible reasons for this dramatic rise include:

1.    Too big too fast. The "accelerator hypothesis" theorizes that children who are bigger   and grow more quickly are more likely to develop type- 1 diabetes.

2.    Too little sun. The "sunshine hypothesis" comes from data showing that countries situated closer to the equator have lower rates of type- 1 diabetes.

3.    Too clean. The "hygiene hypothesis" is the notion that cleanliness -- lack of exposure to certain germs and parasites -- may increase susceptibility to diseases like diabetes.

4.    Too much cow's milk. The "cow's milk hypothesis" states that exposing babies to infant formula containing cow's milk in the first six months of life, damages their immune systems and can trigger autoimmune diseases such as type- 1 diabetes.

5.    Too much pollution. The "POP hypothesis" alleges that being exposed to pollutants increases diabetes risk.

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Sources:

  U.S. News & World Report April 27, 2010

Unlike type- 2 diabetes, which is caused by insulin resistance and faulty leptin signalling due to inappropriate diet and lack of exercise, people with type- 1 diabetes do not produce insulin and must therefore inject insulin several times a day if they are to remain alive.

Tragically, those with type- 1 diabetes can have the healthiest lifestyle possible yet still suffer many diseases, as current technology is a poor substitute for a fully functioning pancreas.

Type- 1 diabetes is actually an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system destroys pancreatic cells that produce insulin. The disease tends to progress rather quickly and therefore needs to be diagnosed early, as it can result in serious long-term complications including blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke.

While type- 1diabetes is far less common than type- 2, accounting for only 5-10 percent of people with diabetes, it is steadily on the rise. Rates of type- 1 diabetes in children under five are expected to double between 2005 and 2020, and cases among children younger than 15 are expected to rise by 70 percent during this time, a Lancet study showed.

 

What Else Can you do to Help Prevent Type- 1 Diabetes?

There are a number of other factors that may also contribute to type- 1 diabetes. To keep your and your children’s risks as low as possible, try the following steps.

·         Breastfeed your baby: Bottle-fed babies tend to grow faster, and this is not a positive result. Instead, babies that gain a lot of weight in their first year of life may have an increased risk of type- 1 diabetes.

The second reason why breastfeeding is preferred is because you will not have to expose your child to pasteurized milk-based formula. Exposure to pasteurized cow’s milk early in life may also increase your child’s risk of type- 1 diabetes.

·         Avoid feeding your infant cereal: Cereal is often one of the first solid foods to be introduced into the infant diet and most paediatricians encourage their patients to start these foods at about 4 to 6 months of age. This is truly unfortunate, as grains are not a healthy choice for most people, including infants, and infants fed cereal also have an increased risk of type 1 diabetes.

Infants will do just fine starting out on a vegetable source of carbs, so do your child a favour and give them veggies rather than cereal.

·         Do your homework before vaccinating: There is speculation that the growing number of autoimmune diseases plaguing children may be related to the growing number of vaccinations they receive. There has been a 17-fold increase in type- 1 diabetes, from 1 in 7,100 children in the 1950s to 1 in 400 now, according to Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD, which correlates with a rise in vaccines.

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