New diabetes cases reducing…in America
Researchers say it is the change in eating habits of Americans and increase in physical activities behind the success.
It took decades of effort to see this happen. According to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate fell by about 20 percent from 2008 to 2014. There were 1.7 million new cases of diabetes in 2008, while 1.4 million cases were seen in 2014.
Experts say they do not know whether efforts to prevent diabetes have finally bore fruit, or if the disease has simply peaked in the population. Although the numbers have decreased, experts cautioned that the portion of Americans with diabetes was still more than double of what it was in the early 1990s and feel the progress had been uneven.
The improvements have been seen in educated Americans, while in the less educated the rates have flattened but not declined. The 2014 data shows that the number of new cases is dropping for whites, but not significantly for blacks or Hispanics, although both show a downward trend.
‘It has finally entered into the consciousness of our population that the sedentary lifestyle is a real problem, that increased body weight is a real problem,’ said Dr. David M. Nathan, the director of the Diabetes Center and Clinical Research Center.
In Alabama too, which has the highest prevalence of diabetes in the U.S at 12.7%, the rate of new cases has begun to taper.
Lynette Carpenter got serious about diabetes around the time her cousin’s leg was amputated because of complications of diabetes. From 50 cans of cola a week she brought it down to less than seven. She started walking and made her doctor proud. She also lost 42 pounds, and two years later has still not developed full-blown diabetes. Diabetes ‘has got my respect and attention,’ she said.
Exercise and mindful eating seem to be finally helping in controlling diabetes. This is a great lesson for Indians in India and everywhere – to regularly exercise and eat mindfully and to prevent India from being the world capital of diabetes. Exercise and mindful eating is perhaps the only way by which the risk of genetic disposition of Indians to diabetes could be mitigated.
