Title: The Diabetes Epidemic
Headings: The Diabetes Epidemic
The Diabetes Epidemic
Are you at risk, and what can you do about it?
By David Mendosa
This article originally appeared on NutriNews.com on November 10, 2000.
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Content: But by far the most worrying are those in the 30 to 39 age group. There, the prevalence increased by 70 percent, from 2.1 percent in 1990 to 3.7 percent in 1998. The youngest age group that the study considered, those 18 to 29, showed only a 9 percent increase. The increase among older age groups ranged from 40 percent among those 40 to 49 down to 10 percent for those over 70. Jan Norman is a registered dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator who is a past President of the American Association of Diabetes Educators and manages the diabetes control program at the Washington state Department of Health. She is concerned about the reported increase in diabetes among those in their 30s. The onset of complications takes a long time, but complications become practically inevitable given enough time, she said. In earlier times, when people were typically diagnosed in their 50s, you could almost expect that they would die of something else before serious diabetes complications set in. But people diagnosed at 30 have to expect to live many years with complications, unless they carefully control the disease. Who is at risk?