Here’s the first thing to know
about Type 2 diabetes: “Keep in
mind that you’ve got modifiable
and nonmodifiable factors that
go into creating your total risk
profile,” says Ann Albright,
president of health care and
education for the American
Diabetes Association and the
director of the diabetes division
at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
The modifiable (or lifestyle)
risk factors arc the ones you can
change. Albright refers to a
quote from Eliot Joslin,
considered the father of
diabetes treatment for his
pioneering work with the
disease: “Your genetics loads
the cannon, and your lifestyle
lights the fuse.”
One groundbreaking
experiment conducted years
ago among members of tribal
populations in Australia and
Africa illustrates this perfectly.
The study tracked indigenous
people who developed diabetes
after moving to urban areas,
which drastically altered their
diet and lifestyles for the worse.
“People with diabetes were sent
to the outback and savannah
and experienced resolution of
most of their metabolic
problems,” says Dr. John Buse,
president of medicine and
science for the American
Diabetes Association.
So consider this a visit to the
outbacks and savannahs of the
world, so to speak, to arm
yourself with information to
reduce your own risk.
DAYS OF WINE AND OIL
Spanish researchers, writing in
the
The British Medical Journal,
recently showed that people
following a Mediterranean diet
were up to 83 percent less likely
to develop Type 2 diabetes than
those who didn’t (see “The
Difference Between Types 1 and
2,” page262,
for an overview of the disease). “It’s just one of
dozens of studies proving the importance of
this diet to the prevention of disease,” says
Sara Baer-Sinnott, executive vice president
of Oldways, the Boston-based food policy
group that created the Mediterranean Diet
Food Pyramid. “And more than that, it’s a
diet easy to comply with, based on popular
and flavorful foods,” such as fish, fresh fruit
and vegetables, and extra-virgin olive oil.
The people ringing the Mediterranean also
tend to be moderate alcohol drinkers.
Although high alcohol consumption
increases risks of diabetes, several studies
indicate moderate intake of alcohol could
actually lower the risk.
Lessons to bring home Men should have no
more than two drinks a day, and women no
Signs and Symptoms
Type 2 diabetes is sneaky. As many as a quarter of
the people with the disease don’t know they have
it. That's why it’s so important to get a fasting
blood sugar test with your yearly physical. When
sym ptom s do show up, they often include:
■ Significantly increased thirst
■ Significantly increased urination
(these first two are the most
common symptoms)
■ General weakness or fatigue
■ Blurry vision
■ Unexplained weight loss
■ Unusual irritability
■ Tingling or numbness in your hands
or in your feet
■ Gum disease
■ Frequent urinary tract infections
■ New dark patches on the skin
healthy you
D IA B E T E S
d o p i n g d i a b e t e s :
i r g e n e t i c s l o a d s t
c a n n o n , a n d y o u r life
l i g h t s t h e f u s e .
258 NOV
I MBtR
2008
better
homes
and
gardens
P H O T O : V E E R
