Dealing with Diabetes :: Healthy Lifestyles and Natural Weight Loss Information

Dealing with Diabetes
by author Joey Shulman, DC, RNCP

In the past 30 years, the rates of those diagnosed with diabetes, in both the young and old, have increased at such an alarming pace that it is now considered a healthcare epidemic. The World Health Organization says the situation is serious worldwide, with more than 177 million people currently diagnosed with diabetes.

In Canada alone, the number of people with diabetes is projected to increase from approximately 1.4 million in 2000 to 2.4 million in 2016. The cost to the healthcare system of this surge in diagnoses is estimated to grow from $4.7 billion in 2000 to $8.4 billion in 2016–an increase of 75 percent!

For what is largely a preventable and treatable disease, the physical and financial cost of diabetes is far too high. Unlike many other disease processes that send researchers searching for a “cure,” the causes of and methods to prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes are already known. By following specific nutritional and lifestyle approaches, the ever-climbing rates of those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes can be reversed, ending this unnecessary epidemic.

A person with diabetes incurs medical costs that are two to three times higher than that of a person without diabetes, including direct costs for medication and supplies ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 a year.

Based on a US study, diabetes and its complications cost the Canadian healthcare system an estimated $13.2 billion every year. By 2010, it’s estimated these costs will rise to $15.6 billion a year and by 2020, $19.2 billion a year.

Understanding Insulin

In order to understand the two main types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2, the role of insulin in the body must be understood. Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas in response to elevated blood sugar. Of insulin’s many roles, one of its most important is to transport blood sugar (glucose) from the blood into the cells. Simply put, the process works in the following manner.

Blood glucose levels are elevated by eating a carbohydrate (e.g. piece of bread).
The pancreas responds to the elevation of blood glucose by secreting insulin.
Insulin opens up the gates of cells to allow glucose to “enter.”
The gates of the cells open and glucose gets absorbed into the cells.
Blood glucose levels are normalized.

The development of diabetes occurs when insulin secretion is either extremely low, or the cell receptors become insensitive to insulin causing the body to secrete more and more.

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is the least common of the two main types of diabetes and occurs in 5 to 10 percent of all those diagnosed. Type 1 diabetes is primarily diagnosed in children and adolescents and occurs when an individual is unable to secrete insulin and must rely on insulin injections to properly absorb blood sugar.

In an attempt to find a cure, several researchers have come up with possible theories as to why type 1 diabetes develops in the first place. Potential causes may include autoimmune disorder, milk allergy, or genetics. Unlike type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes does not respond significantly to nutritional and lifestyle changes. In most cases, type 1 diabetics need to be on insulin therapy for life.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes and is diagnosed in 90 to 95 percent of all cases. Although type 2 diabetes is now affecting our youth due to the increasing number of obese children, the majority of those diagnosed are over age 30 and are overweight or obese.

Type 2 diabetes is very different from type 1 diabetes in that cell receptors become insensitive to insulin, causing more and more insulin to be secreted. In his book Diabetes and Hypoglycemia, Dr. Michael Murray clearly identifies the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes when he states, “Healthy individuals secrete approximately 31 units of insulin daily; the obese type 2 individual secretes an average of 114 units daily. Individuals with type 1 diabetes secrete only 4 units of insulin daily.”

What Triggers Type 2 Diabetes?

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Dr. Joey Shulman, DC, RNCP, is author of Winning the Food Fight (Wiley 2003) and The Natural Makeover Diet (in stores Jan. 2006). For more information, visit www.drjoey.com.

Source: alive #277, November 2005

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