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Some Changes Make A Big Difference!


When it comes to diabetes, small changes can make a big difference -- even in the middle of an epidemic that currently affects more than 2 million Americans and Canadians, and costs us an estimated $13.2 billion per year. Earlier prevention, earlier diagnosis, and very aggressive treatment of diabetes by controlling blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and lipid (i.e.cholesterol) levels have proven to prevent or significantly delay the damage that uncontrolled diabetes can cause to the body's blood vessels.

In terms of both the onset of diabetes and its complications,"The 2003 Guidelines have a much stronger focus on prevention throughout the lifespan of diabetes," notes Donna Lillie, Vice President, Research and Professional Education. "Diabetes does not wait. Individuals need to ask, "Am I at risk and what can I do?"

To help Canadians answer that question, the Canadian Diabetes Association's 2003 Guidelines have lowered the age considered at risk for diabetes by five years. That means an additional 2.5 million Canadians age 40 to 44 are now recommended for screening for high blood glucose (sugar).

The urgent need to identify people at risk is fuelled by expectations that the number of people diagnosed with diabetes will increase by up to 50% over the next 10 to 20 years.

Currently, about half of those diagnosed have already had diabetes for as long as 7 years, so the clock has already been ticking for some time. We want to avoid the common scenario where someone finds out that they have diabetes only when they're admitted to the hospital. We need to recognize that diabetes is a cardiovascular disease. This is another new focus of these guidelines.

In people with diabetes, we often see a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity. What we've learned in the last few years is that (compared to the general population) people with diabetes are at greater risk for all these complications. That's why having diabetes is about more than managing blood glucose.

Evidence over the last ten years clearly proves that like elevated cholesterol and blood pressure, high blood glucose is a continuous risk. That means the higher levels, the greater your risk of problems. The connection may be difficult to make, since all three conditions are often silent, so people don't necessarily feel their ill effects.

Author: Susan Rutter -- Publisher, Nutritionist, and Instructor who assists patients and the public make healthy choices and changes in their lives. Web Site: Healthy YOUbbies - http://www.geocities.com/healthyoubbies/


MORE RESOURCES:

The Guardian

Diabetes quadruples birth defects risk, say researchers
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By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News The risk of birth defects increases four-fold if the pregnant mother has diabetes, researchers say. The study, published in the journal Diabetologia, analysed data from more than 400000 ...
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Diabetes 'raises birth defect risk'The Press Association
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TopNews United States

Diabetes: Celebrating The Silent Killer
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With the worsening incidence of diabetes sweepiing across the world, EZRA IJIOMA examines the different types of diabetes and reasons for its high incidence in Nigeria. In 2003, when he was 21 years old, Ken developed a puzzling, unquenchable thirst.
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Take steps to detect, reverse pre-diabetes
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Pre-diabetes is a condition in which a person's blood sugar is elevated but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. It's a very important condition to understand because there are so many people who, if they realized they had pre-diabetes, ...
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Research and Markets: Brazil Diabetes Care Devices Market Outlook to 2017 ...
SunHerald.com
GlobalData's new report, Brazil Diabetes Care Devices Market Outlook to 2017- Glucose Monitoring and Insulin Delivery provides key market data on the Brazil Diabetes Care Devices market. The report provides value (USD million), volume (units) and ...

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Diabetes amputations drop, but disease expands
SouthCoastToday.com
By ANIKA CLARK The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published good news recently for the nation's diabetic adults. In 2008, substantially fewer of them 40 and older received lower limb amputations than they had 12 years prior.



GPB

Diabetes Study Focuses On City Workers
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By Joshua Stewart A new study at UGA will focus on preventing diabetes among government works in Athens-Clarke County, Columbus and Macon by helping them manage their weight. Obesity is a key cause of Type II diabetes. (Photo Courtesy of Jeff Mather ...



PR Web (press release)

Diabetes is One of the Fastest Deadly Growing Diseases around the World
PR Web (press release)
According to the Centers for Disease Control in the USA: Diabetes is an epidemic. 17 million Americans have diabetes with 5.9 million completely unaware that they even have the disease. Diabetes is the 5th leading cause of death in the United States ...



Medical experts meet in S'pore for diabetes workshop
Channel News Asia
SINGAPORE: Leading international experts in type 2 diabetes are in Singapore to address specific challenges and opportunities of bariatric or metabolic surgery for Asian patients and health care systems. The Asia-Pacific Workshop on Metabolic Surgery ...

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The Curse of Amylin's Diabetes Drug Approval
TheStreet.com
... after more than two and a half years, two FDA rejection letters, and at least a dozen amendments to the application, Amylin Pharmaceuticals(AMLN) received FDA approval for Bydureon, a once-weekly formulation of its existing diabetes drug Byetta.


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